ALCOVA MILANO 2026 — HAWORTH & CASSINA BY PATRICIA URQUIOLA: A SHIFTING GEOGRAPHY OF DESIGN

Images courtesy of Alcova Milano

Modernist Legacy Reimagined

At Alcova Milano 2026, Villa Pestarini—Franco Albini’s only private residence in Milan—opens to the public for the first time, framing a refined encounter between architecture and contemporary design. Within this setting, Patricia Urquiola presents an installation developed with Haworth and Cassina, positioning contemporary design within the clarity of Italian Rationalism.

Villa Pestarini

Villa Pestarini

Bringing together Albini’s iconic pieces—most notably the Veliero bookshelf and Luisa chair, reissued by Cassina—with a curated selection of contemporary works, the installation unfolds as a composed spatial experience shaped by proportion, light, and rhythm. Architectural elements of the villa, including its monumental glass-block window, are reinterpreted as part of the scenography, reinforcing the relationship between structure and object.

Baggio Military Hospital

The intervention remains deliberately restrained, with each element placed in careful response to the architecture—allowing the villa’s structure to stay legible while subtly shifting its atmosphere. Contemporary pieces from Alcova Shop, alongside works by a selection of international designers, are integrated into the space, enriching the sense of a lived-in environment rather than a staged display.

Baggio Military Hospital

Here, modernist legacy is approached as a living framework—adapting through material, use, and perception—where past references are seamlessly absorbed into contemporary living. Within Alcova’s broader narrative, Villa Pestarini becomes more than a setting, becoming a structure that quietly shapes how design is experienced through proximity, scale, and atmosphere.

Exhibitor Baggio Military Hospital – Design Academy Eindhoven | UMPRUM Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague | Pani Jurek Studio | Center for Creativity

20–26 April 2026
Villa Pestarini & Baggio Military Hospital, Milan

Exhibitor Villa Pestarini – Elisa Uberti | Sema Topaloglu | Worn Studio | ISSE x Sophie Dires

Exhibitor – BISA STUDIO | Touch With Eyes | Rive Roshan | Jean-Baptiste Durand