Top 3 Exhibitions: Milan Design Week 2023

This is my final installment of three on Milan Design Week 2023, where we explore the top 3 exhibitions I attended during Salone. You can find the other two installments (Themes and Highlights of Milan Design Week 2023) here and (Newly Discovered Brands) here.

Just to be clear, because it can be confusing if you haven’t been, Milan Design Week is a culmination of three different types of venues in a week long exhibition. The first is the exhibition at Rho Fiera, the convention center in Milan, where brands set up booths for the week, showcasing their products and vision. Secondly, individual showrooms, often their permanent flagship store, are transformed into a more sensational experience during Milan Design Week, and finally, special exhibition spaces, typically a Milanese apartment, that is set up in collaboration with multiple designers, to exhibit a shared vision and experience during Milan Design Week.

I had heard so much about Alcova over the last few years, so this was my first stop for Milan Design Week 2023. It is an annual temporary exhibition space, setup specifically for Milan Design Week.

Alcova was founded in 2018 out of a desire to return to the roots of Salone and Milan Design Week, when the show was more about a collaboration between emerging artisans and their designs. Since its inception, Alcova has created a following for doing just that, bringing together artists in often lesser known buildings and neighborhoods of Milan. The result is a sublime event for your senses, with so much to discover and so large, it is like a design fair in itself.

Zurich based Monocle on Design has a podcast that offers insight into the vision of the founders of Alcova. I won’t duplicate their information here.

Below are photos from my visit and I think they speak for themselves, mostly. I would liken going to Alcova a similar experience to visiting a museum, except the artisans are usually present in the room with their pieces, happy to speak with you about how they created their work and what journey brought them to this point.

That being said, it can be challenging to appreciate what you are seeing without understanding the thinking behind its creation. This is something I feel I often struggle with at Salone because unless you’ve done all of the background research on a designer and their creations and collaborations, you don’t always understand what you are seeing and the significance of it. I wish there was a better way for the whole of Milan Design Week to add better descriptions to each space and works. Perhaps an audio tour, like they do in museums?! Or a well designed app? Otherwise you are dependent on the press to interview the designers whose work you are admiring, or speak to each individual designer.

For instance, 3rd photo, top row, are furnishings made out of deadstock linoleum. Interesting, right? I would never think to use linoleum to make a piece of furniture! And I’m not sure it’s self explanatory looking at the display. Either way, these designs will shape the future of design, and that, in and of itself, is worth seeing.

Next up in Top 3: Artemest

With an emphasis on Italian design, Artemest has a Milan showroom but also curated a 1930s Milanese apartment in collaboration with six interior design firms for a showcase at Milan Design Week 2023.

This was, by far, was my favorite exhibition. There is something about staging a design in an actual apartment, particularly a Milanese apartment, that adds so much to the feelings you get when you wander through the exhibition, vs. seeing products in a showroom. This apartment was in the 5Vie district, within short walking distance of Duomo, on Via Corrente 14. There were long lines to get in, and I wasn’t sure I was going to get the opportunity, as I showed up close to closing time. Luckily, I got in before closing.

One of the great features about their exhibition, is you can find everything on their website. So enjoy looking at that.

Something that struck me, this apartment was full of color, which is not normally my thing, but in this setting, the color palette really suited the architecture. The rooms were small, the furnishings were colorful and many had rounded edges… It was gorgeous, and very inspiring. You could envision yourself living there.

And Finally in Top 3: Rossana Orlandi

This was my third visit to Rossana Orlandi, and can I just say, she’s that tried and true venue for inspiring, curated, good design. She definitely has an eye for finding the best of the best. So many of the designers she exhibits become hugely popular in the years that follow their initial introduction at Ro. Hello. I’m still obsessed with Sergio Roger years on. I’m sure this will be true of her current exhibitions, too. She truly has a gift. Plus, the setting is pretty extraordinary. The cafe/ garden is a great place for meetings, and the gallery is in walking distance of Brera and “the Last Supper” if you are in the so inclined.

Rossana Orlandi Gallery is open year round, so if you get the chance, you should definitely spend an afternoon there. Below, silicone vases, priced around 1600 euros.