With 5 months to go Alcova revealed its new places for 2026! From April 20–26, 2026, Alcova returns for its eleventh version, unfolding throughout two extraordinary websites that every, in their very own means, seize the essence of Milan’s city id. If you happen to visited Alcova earlier than you would possibly keep in mind one of many two places for 2026 from earlier Alcova exhibitions in 2021 and 2022. I personally couldn’t be happier to see Alcova return to ‘The Baggio Army Hospital’ for the subsequent Milan Design week. Take a look right here for one of many posts I made again then: Beni rugs at Alcova 2022
Alcova is a platform for unbiased design developed by Valentina Ciuffi (founding father of Studio Vedèt) and Joseph Grima (founding father of House Caviar). At present working as an itinerant community of exhibition areas throughout a number of websites in and round Milan, it prompts forgotten places of historic significance, quickly recasting them as venues for exhibitions, installations and performances.
New areas throughout the Baggio Army Hospital
As soon as once more the deserted navy hospital and former psychological establishment with its totally different buildings will provide a fantastic backdrop to the numerous worldwide exhibitors together with unbiased designers, revolutionary manufacturers, galleries, cultural establishments and firms. All unfold over the totally different buildings, related by stunning inexperienced and tall timber.
Alcova returns to the location this 12 months by opening a collection of newly accessible areas, together with a church with its former rectory and a historic archive. These additions provide guests a deeper look into the layered historical past of the placement. Over time, the advanced has continued to evolve, poetically weaving the constructed and pure landscapes collectively into an ever-changing ecosystem that blurs the boundary between pure and man-made.
Villa Pestarini by Franco Albini
The second location Alcova revealed is situated just some kilometer away: Villa Pestarini. Opening to the general public for the primary time, the villa dates again to 1938/1939, when Franco Albini was 33 years previous, and is taken into account one of many clearest examples of Italian rationalism. Its design is outlined by exact geometry: a white rectangular quantity, glass-block façades, and huge home windows overlooking the backyard. Franco Albini (1905–1977) was an influential Italian architect and designer, extensively thought to be one of many key figures of Italian rationalism. His work is thought for its readability, precision, and stability between technical self-discipline and a poetic sense of house.
Meticulously preserved over the many years by homeowners dedicated to its legacy, the home stays an virtually miraculous testimony to Albini’s distinctive stability of self-discipline and poetry, and some of the genuine expressions of recurring themes in his work: the shallow marble staircase, sliding partitions, and bespoke furnishings that type his signature mixture self-discipline and poetry. It’s a house that feels suspended in time.
See extra of Alcova and Milan Design week on the weblog
Pictures of the Baggio Army Hospital: Piergiorgio Sorgetti, DSL—Studio, Mattia Parodi
Pictures of Villa Pestarini: Luigi Fiano
