Alcova will return to Milan Design Week from April 7 to 13, 2025, reinforcing its presence while continuing to explore new terrain. For its ninth edition, the platform deepens its relationship with Varedo by engaging four architectural sites that differ in scale, atmosphere, and condition. This expanded footprint offers designers a framework to rethink how space, history, and materials shape contemporary design. Across four venues, the 2025 edition gathers a broad list of designers whose practices span objects, furniture, research, and site-based interventions.
Pasino Glasshouses: From Orchid Farm to Exhibition Site
Set within the grounds of an outdoor hippodrome beside Villa Bagatti Valsecchi, the Pasino Glasshouses once functioned as one of Europe’s largest white orchid production sites. Alcova reactivates the structure for a new purpose, inviting participants to respond to its transparent shell and overgrown interior.
The exhibiting designers include AVAU, David Aliperti x SoMad.NYC, Greek Marble x Objects of Common Interest, Marcin Rusak Studio, News & Coffee x St. Moritz, Sema Topaloğlu Studio, Terraformæ, and Terzofoco ceramics.
SNIA Factory: Industrial Legacy Meets Design Intervention
Once a hub for global synthetic fiber production, the former SNIA factory still shows the scale and order of rationalist industrial architecture. Over time, vegetation has begun to take over parts of the site, offering a different kind of atmosphere, one shaped by erosion, growth, and unfinished transitions.
Alcova positions the factory as a place where raw structural presence supports new work. Participants include Burg Giebichenstein University for Art and Design Halle, Decibel x Vizcom, Habitare, Ranieri, SPREAD, and Warm Weekend, a collaboration between Mathias Palazzi and Robinson Guillermet. The installations here engage with the rough surfaces and layered textures, offering a conversation between past production and current creative methods.
Villa Bagatti Valsecchi: Historic Interiors Reimagined
Inside the 19th-century Villa Bagatti Valsecchi, a mix of grand halls and smaller chambers allows for different scales of work to unfold. The historic residence, known for its detailed interiors and secluded rooms, welcomes a wide group of designers whose practices range from experimental ceramics to installation and product design.
This year’s contributors include 11 (eleven), Aleksandra Jakuć, AnanasAnanas x Parasite 2.0, ARTESANOS, Basetale, Belgium is Design, Bohinc Studio, Bokrijk | VAKlab x Michaël Verheyden, Centre for Creativity, Museum of Architecture and Design, Darmes, Dekoriti TC, DI PALMA for IL PICCOLO, Diaphan Studio, and Dunie Studio.
The list continues with El Espartano, ESTO, FABER, FAP CERAMICHE, Florencia Bacci, Fomu Studio, Forma Rosa Studio, GIOPAGANI, GRÔPK, Grou Serra, Guatemala Diseña con las Manos, Harvest Salon x Valentin Klauss, Hiroto Yoshizoe, Jean-Baptiste Durand & Waiting for ideas, Jorge Suarez-Kilzi (Kilzi) and curated artists, Leilei Wu, Lemon, MAQSTONE, Marlot Baus, MASAYA KAWAMOTO DESIGN, nss edicola x Alcova Design Shop, nysædition, Plato Design, PONCE, READY TO HANG, Rive Roshan x SOL R&D, Room–file Group Show, Sfossils, Shakti Design Residency, SKNYPL, SOLEILLE GALLERY, Sten Studio, Studio Bovti, Studio Gonzalo Bascuñan, Studio Graeff, Studio LoopLoop, Studio Lugo, Studio Noké, Moon Seop Seo, SUPER YAYA / CONIE VALLESE, The New Raw, THESHAW STUDIO, TOUCH WITH EYES, UMPRUM Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, Uniqka, VAYREDA LAB, Wei Xiaoyan Studio & UNICOGGETTO, YOCHIYA, and ZAROLAT.
Villa Borsani: Modernist Lines and Contemporary Responses
Villa Borsani offers a different atmosphere altogether. Built as a modernist residence, the house features clean lines, custom furnishings, and an architectural language rooted in precise proportions. Alcova activates this site with designers who respond to those existing structures through new ideas and material strategies.
Participants include Atelier dell’Errore, AtMa inc., Béton Brut x Salvino Marsura, CHELEBI, Completedworks, Contem Furniture, Eleftheria Tseliou Gallery, Estudio Material, Haus of Hu, Inderjeet Sandhu, Kiki Goti + Office of Tangible Space, Lemon, mati sipiora, Monstruosus, Noritake Design Collection, OOG OBJECTS, Ryuichi Kozeki, S.E.X.A.C, SOFT WITNESS, Source Édition, Studio Musa, Supaform, The Breeder x Objects of Common Interest, Theo Galliakis, and VeeCollect.
The contrast between architectural control and contemporary experimentation becomes part of the site’s strength, offering visitors a curated look at how current practices can respond to structured domestic space.
With this ninth edition, Alcova reaffirms its role as an evolving platform for design thinking, material research, and spatial engagement, one that continues to shift shape each year while staying firmly rooted in Milan’s design calendar.
