Atelier Fomenta's rubber furniture

Montréal studio Atelier Fomenta is bringing a furniture installation made from rubber to Milan Design Week, which runs April 20–26, 2026. (wallpaper.com) Wallpaper reported the studio’s Milan debut ahead of the weeklong design festival, and Atelier Fomenta says the practice is led by Julia Arvelo, Florence Barnabé and Muriel Bentolila. (wallpaper.com) (atelierfomenta.com) Atelier Fomenta’s work starts with industrial sheet rubber, an everyday material more often used for flooring, seals or workshop surfaces than for chairs or shelving. The studio’s own description says it works with “industrial and accessible materials” and makes its projects by hand in Montréal with local artisans. (atelierfomenta.com) That material choice is central to the furniture itself. Sixtysix magazine reported that Fomenta’s “Rubber Libraries” bookshelves use a black rubber sheet and aluminum rivets, with no hidden frame or internal armature carrying the load. (sixtysixmag.com) Milan Design Week gives that experiment a large audience because the event spreads far beyond the trade fair halls into neighborhoods across the city. Designboom’s 2026 guide says the week runs from April 20 to 26 and turns Milan into a citywide program of exhibitions, installations, talks and pop-ups. (designboom.com) That citywide program is the Fuorisalone, the off-fair network of events that has become a launchpad for smaller studios, independent makers and one-off installations. Fuorisalone’s official 2026 guide lists 1,062 events across Milan this year. (fuorisalone.it) The scale helps explain why a small studio showing rubber furniture can break through during the same week as global brands. Forbes reported that more than 300,000 visitors come through the Salone del Mobile fair alone, while the broader city becomes what it called a temporary design laboratory. (forbes.com) The mood around this year’s week has also tilted toward group shows and collaborative formats instead of only polished showroom launches. The New York Times preview of the 2026 edition described Milan as a place where function, form and group dynamics are being tested in new ways. (nytimes.com) For furniture makers and home tinkerers, Fomenta’s work offers a simple proposition: treat rubber less like padding and more like structure. The studio’s methods — cutting, bending and riveting sheet material into usable pieces — put fabrication techniques in plain view instead of hiding them behind upholstery or wood joinery. (sixtysixmag.com) (wallpaper.com) As Milan Design Week opens on April 20, Atelier Fomenta’s rubber pieces will land in a design calendar crowded with luxury names, but their pitch is narrower and more direct: one common material, pushed until it can stand up on its own. (wallpaper.com) (designboom.com)