Design Week 2026

INTERDEPENDENCE: past, present, future

For the third consecutive year, the School of Design, the Department of Design, and POLI.Design return to Milan Design Week with INTERDEPENDENCE: past, present, future, a series of initiatives reflecting on connections across the temporal dimension through projects curated by students from Politecnico di Milano and over 50 international design universities.

INTERDEPENDENCE @ FABBRICA DEL VAPORE

Location: Fabbrica del Vapore, Via Giulio Cesare Procaccini 4, Milan

Opening: Thursday April 16th, 5:00 pm

Exhibition hours: April 16th, 5:00–7:00pm / April 17th–25th, 10:00am–7:00pm / Aprile 26th, 10:00am–4:00pm

An international exhibition, co-curated with CASVA, combining student projects with a selection of historical pieces from its archives. The exhibition is enriched by a public program including talks, workshops, performances, and networking activities. The projects on display explore how knowledge of the past, the complexities of the present, and the possibilities of the future converge to shape equitable, resilient, and meaningful realities.

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INTERDEPENDENCE @ SALONE SATELLITE

Location: Stand A20, Rho Fiera Milano, Corso Italia, Rho

Exhibition hours: April 21st–26th, 9:30am–6:30pm

Mobility Futures is a monographic selection of three Digital and Interaction Design projects focused on the future of experiential automotive ecosystems. Here, the projects reinterpret driving as a ritual, rethinking established interactions and directly engaging visitors in simulated and immersive experiences oriented toward possible future scenarios.

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Many other initiatives that will take place during the Design Week 2026 involve Professors and Researchers from the Department of Design, including:

100 Things Not to Forget

Location: Rifugio 87, Viale L. Bodio 22, Milan
Dates: April 14–26

A project promoted by Repubblica del Design, starting from the reopening of World War II shelters and bunkers and transforming them into contemporary cultural devices. Not merely places of memory, but active spaces capable of hosting exhibitions, research, and design practices, returning to the city as civic infrastructures. Within this framework, a system of interventions takes shape across multiple locations, particularly the semi-underground shelter on Via Bodio.

Within the exhibition path is TechnéTECA, a project created to build a living archive of “know-how”: a collection of solutions from the past, present, and future. Conceived as a design tool, it goes beyond the idea of a material library and promotes truly sustainable solutions. From low-tech practices and self-sufficient materials of the postwar period, the project moves to the present with experiences from sustainable companies, and looks to the future through research and experimentation by seven Italian universities.

Designers: Davide Crippa (IUAV), Barbara Di Prete (Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano), Annapaola Vacanti (IUAV), and NonSiButtaViaNiente, in collaboration with many other contributors.

Reservation via the Repubblica del Design website is required for entry.

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Palazzo Filoni: By Cultural Heritage

Location: Casa Antonelli, Piazza Duomo 16 (courtyard), Milan

Date: April 20–26, 10 am–6 pm

Casa Antonelli, a space dedicated to the dialogue between design, materiality, and innovation, hosts the exhibition project conceived for Palazzo Filoni, part of the Eurobuilding Group, with contributions from students of the Licensing & Brand Extension course at the School of Design, coordinated by Marco Turinetto and Patrizia Beltrami.

The project takes shape as a narrative journey aimed at enhancing the identity and symbolic heritage of the space, offering a contemporary and thoughtful interpretation. The initiative unfolds as a preview immersive experience: starting from Casa Antonelli, visitors are guided through a narrative that anticipates and interprets Palazzo Filoni, highlighting its historical value and design potential.

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Museo BAU Bovisa Arte Urbana

Location: Cafè Gorille, Isola

Date: April 20–26

Opening: Monday, April 20 – inauguration with talk and DJ set

Saturday, April 26:

• 16:00–18:00 – workshop
• 18:00–18:30 – talk
• 18:30–19:00 – performances
• DJ set until evening

The exhibition showcases the results of the Passion in Action project, presenting clothing and furniture created by students from reused objects collected on the streets.

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Nuove generazioni di valori

InsideOut: tra valori visibili e invisibili, il guardaroba da indossare e da abitare

Location: Design Week Oasi Life Experience, Piazza Città di Lombardia, Via Federico Confalonieri 21, Milan

Dates: April 24th, 12:30–1:30pm

The InsideOut by C.L.A.S.S. Code of Values will be presented during the talk:

• Campaign Presentation by Giusy Bettoni, CEO and Founder of C.L.A.S.S. & InsideOut by C.L.A.S.S.
• Ethical Value by Martina Rogato, Founder of ESG Boutique and President of HRIC
• Ingredient Value + Education by Giovanni Maria Conti, Professor at the Department of Design at Politecnico di Milano
• Design Value by Isabella Goldman, Bio-architect and Founder of Goldmann & Partners
• Case History by Marco Martinuzzi, Head of Research and Development for all textile collections at the Rubelli Group
• Moderated by Chiara Puglisi, Journalist at SKY TG24

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Alice Ceramica presents prototypes developed with the Politecnico di Milano

Location: Brera Design District, Via Marsala 2, Milan
Dates: April 21–24

Alice Ceramica opens the doors of its showroom to present the first prototypes of a collection of washbasins and sanitary ware developed in collaboration with the School of Design’s Product Design program. Among the 15 working groups of the Final Synthesis Design Studio I5 (academic year 2024–2025), led by researcher Patrizia Bolzan, involved in designing solutions for the bathroom environment, the proposal by students Amelia Dall’Osso, Luna Deandrea, Francesco Dell’Anna, and Vitalina Shcheglova stood out.

The collection offers a new vision of the bathroom environment, where inclusivity, ergonomics, and aesthetics interact harmoniously. Through design solutions that respond to diverse needs, such as washbasins with extended edges and inclined profiles and sanitary fixtures designed to facilitate installation and use, the project goes beyond the traditional standards of accessible design.