ALCOVA 2025 PREVIEW

Images courtesy of Alcova

Four Sites, One Design Path

Alcova will return to Varedo for its ninth edition from April 7 to 13, 2025.  The event will take place in four distinct locations: the former SNIA factory and the Pasino Glasshouses, both raw, layered areas where nature is reclaiming its domain.  These locations will take guests on a diverse journey, presenting the work of both established and new designers through site-specific installations and curated exhibitions that are relevant to their surroundings.

The Pasino Glasshouses, located in the outdoor hippodrome adjacent to Villa Borsani, originally housed one of Europe’s greatest white orchid cultivations. Marcin Rusak Studio will showcase “Ghost Orchids” a collection of biodegradable sculptures created in partnership with the Łukasiewicz Institute. The former SNIA factory, a significant rationalist facility that once led the world in synthetic fiber production, will serve as a bridge between industrial decay and nature’s peaceful recovery. Habitare’s investigation of future materials will focus on Finnish enterprises and designers.

Villa Bagatti Valsecchi, a 19th-century architectural marvel with enormous halls, intimate apartments, and hidden galleries, will host new artists such as the American collective ANANASANANAS, in cooperation with Parasite 2.0. Their initiative will focus on soil exploitation in food production, as well as food and sustainability issues. Rive Roshan, an Amsterdam-based team, will change the Villa’s fountain with a poetic installation that interacts with natural light.

Presented by Molteni&C

Studio Noké, headquartered in the Netherlands, will present a double installation titled “Drifting Cloud” in the Icehouse. The event will also include research projects such as “Design Signals” which will show the relationship between design and the history of production, technologies, culture, and current concerns in modern urban environments.

At Villa Borsani, cutting-edge design will interact directly with modernist architecture. The Japanese Noritake Design Collection will unveil Faye Toogood’s new ceramics collection, while THE BREEDER, an Athens-based gallery, will present Objects of Common Interest’s new light-based initiative. Completed Works, a UK jewelry firm, will debut its first design collection, while Athens’ Eleftheria Tseliou Gallery will stage a re-enactment of “The Library Show” in a home setting. Maxim Shcherbakov’s Supaform will examine the role and identity of things with “Missing Material” which combines urban and interior components in unexpected ways.

This year, Alcova’s public program will be curated by Design Academy Eindhoven in collaboration with KALDEWEI. Under the theme “Are We Going in Circles?”, it will encourage reflections on circularity in contemporary design practice. Additionally, the food and beverage areas will be expanded and enhanced, showcasing the endless possibilities of shapes and colors from Nathalie Du Pasquier‘s “Mattonelle Margherita” collection.