Milan Design Week 2025: The Theatre of Design
Design and theater mixed like never before at this year's design festival At this year’s Milan Design Week the evolving relationship between design and theater, which we’ve seen in retail and hospitality …
Design and theater mixed like never before at this year's design festival
Milan Design Week 2025: The Theatre of Design
Design and theater mixed like never before at this year’s design festival
At this year’s Milan Design Week the evolving relationship between design and theater, which we’ve seen in retail and hospitality environments, was present in force for the first time at the festival. From the Salone del Mobile to the thousand plus events of Fuorisalone several installations involved the use of solutions often reserved for the stage. More than objects on the stage, actors engaged us at product reveals and participated in performances surrounded by furniture, cars and more. It was one of this year’s most talked about themes. Here are some of our favorites from the week.
Bob Wilson at Teatro alla Scala, “The Night Before. Objects, Chairs, Opera”
What could be more Milanese than the Salone del Mobile? Perhaps La Scala theatre, and that is why the meeting between the fair and the famous opera house has for years marked the real beginning of design week. This year, Bob Wilson imagined a performance in which design is as much a protagonist as music. The theatre orchestra, conducted by Michele Spotti, and soprano Marina Rebeka performed excerpts from five operas chosen by Wilson himself, including Macbeth, Madame Butterfly, and La Traviata. The sets were simple and clean, with objects that resembled abstract and essential furniture elements, and light was the protagonist. 
Cassina, “Staging Modernity” by Formafantasma
Cassina is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, and Charlotte Perriand Collection. This series includes masterpieces of international design such as the “1 Fauteuil Dossier Basculant” armchair, the “2 Fauteuil Grand Confort” and “3 Fauteuil Grand Confort, Grand Modèle” armchair, and the “4 Chaise Longue à Réglage Continu”. Cassina entrusted the curatorship of the project to Formafantasma, who created “Staging Modernity”, a theatrical performance in the beautiful Teatro Lirico Giorgio Gaber. Visitors entered the lobby amidst original pieces from the collection. Once inside he theatre the new editions of the furniture were placed on the stage and on several plinths throughout the seating area and orchestra pit. Throughout the week, every two hours, actors directed by Fabio Cherstich recited original texts by the philosopher Emanuele Coccia, the architect, writer, and curator Andrés Jaque, and the architect and artist Feifei Zhou.
Range Rover, “Futurespective: Connected Worlds”
“Would you like to enjoy time-travel?” This is how visitors were greeted at “Futurespective: Connected Worlds”, the first landmark installation at Milan Design Week by Range Rover. The installation was staged as a connection between the past and the future of the brand and it’s most iconic vehicle. Designed in collaboration with California-based design duo NUOVA, whose practice includes product design, installations, material innovation, and creative direction. Visitors were invited to register and get a time-travel ticket, in a space that felt like a sci-fi movie set. They then entered the rectangular installation’s first room, which recreated a nostalgic 1970s Range Rover dealership in London, with wooden panels and a nostalgic vibe. Two actors portrayed salespeople, who described the beauty and performance of the original Range Rover, while visitors admired a pre-production Range Rover with its original olive green colour, the very first of the marque’s pre-production vehicles built ahead of its launch in 1970. Guests were then directed to a secret door, where they entered a modern space, all white and mirrors. The centerpiece was the brand’s latest fifth-generation Range Rover Autobiography, crafted in bespoke metallic green inspired by the 1970 original.
Paolo Sorrentino, “La Dolce Attesa” for Salone del Mobile
According to Oscar-winning movie director Paolo Sorrentino, waiting is a bittersweet sensation. We like to wait, but we fear it at the same time. This is the theme he chose for his immersive installation at Salone del Mobile, right in the heart of the fairgrounds. During the week there everything moves at a rapid pace, but Sorrentino invited visitors to experience slowness. The lucky ones who could reserve a visit were welcomed by nurses (actors from Il Piccolo Teatro di Milano) in a hospital-like environment. An elevator took two visitors at a time into a long room, a sort of corridor, where they were invited to sit on large moving armchairs. The action involved changes in lighting, sounds of a heartbeat, and reflections coming from a gigantic sculpture that looked like a heart. A door opened towards a “cardiology” room. This extremely conceptual installation represented a condensed theatrical experience, a small, slow-paced memory during a hectic week.
Loro Piana, “La prima notte di quiete” by DimoreStudio
Dimorestudio is known for its Design Week installations, and this year was perhaps its most impressive. Their installation at the fashion brand Loro Piana’s headquarters delivered a beautiful and compelling representation of a style and a vision of how furniture and storytelling can coincide. The brand’s headquarters in Brera was transformed into a movie theatre, but there was no screen or moving images. Visitors entered a dark space where music and voices began telling a story. Lights turned on slowly, revealing a bedroom, a bathroom, a living room, a beautiful interior with the brands’s products felt natural, though it was clear that something had just happened. Water spilled out of the bathtub, broken glasses were scattered everywhere, and water dropped from the ceiling. What was going on here? Instead of answering it let visitors guess, and this created one of the most talked about installations at Design Week this year, and was an excellent representation of contemporary interior design.
