Milan Design Week roundup

Milan Design Week 2026 is widening beyond the fairgrounds, with first-time access to six new venues across the city and a parallel talks-and-film program. (wallpaper.com) (designboom.com) The city’s official program runs from April 20 to 26, 2026, while Salone del Mobile.Milano opens at Fiera Milano Rho from April 21 to 26. Fuorisalone events spread that schedule into neighborhoods, palazzi, museums and temporary installations across Milan. (comune.milano.it) (salonemilano.it) (fuorisalone.it) Wallpaper’s roundup of the new sites names Villa Pestarini, Casa Rossa, Palazzo Acerbi, Piscina Romano, Palazzo Olivazzi Crespi and the Bonsai Museum as venues being opened to Design Week visitors for the first time. The list ranges from a 1939 Franco Albini house that has remained a private family residence to an abandoned public swimming complex. (wallpaper.com) That venue hunt has become part of the event’s draw. Milan’s annual design week now works as two overlapping formats at once: a trade fair for furniture and interiors at Rho, and a citywide cultural circuit that turns hidden buildings into destinations. (salonemilano.it) (wallpaper.com) (fuorisalone.it) The city is also selling the week as a larger visitor program, not only an industry appointment. Milan’s municipal announcement says the 2026 edition will combine historic districts with new itineraries for visitors discovering the city through design. (comune.milano.it) ROOM FOR DREAMS is part of that wider packaging. Designboom’s takeover of the Aldo Rossi-designed ME Milan Il Duca runs from April 20 to 26 and adds installations, a cinema space, talks and workshops inside the hotel’s public areas. (designboom.com) The talks schedule starts Monday, April 20, with Philippe Starck, followed during the week by sessions featuring DRIFT, Ma Yansong of MAD Architects, Carlo Ratti and Stefano Boeri. Designboom says the talks and film screenings are free on a first-come, first-served basis with RSVP. (designboom.com) The cinema program is being built with Louisiana Channel, plus studios and directors including 9sekunden and Bêka and Lemoine. Designboom says the screenings are housed in a “Cinema of Dreams” designed by Paf atelier inside the hotel. (designboom.com) Salone del Mobile is also extending itself into the city this year. The fair’s official site says its temporary urban space returns from April 17 to 26, and on April 24 Milan’s historical design and architecture archives will open to the public for one evening. (salonemilano.it) The result is a week in which the ticketed halls at Rho are only one part of the program. From April 20, visitors can move between trade-show launches, newly opened private and semi-abandoned sites, and a nightly calendar of talks and screenings without leaving Milan. (salonemilano.it) (wallpaper.com) (designboom.com)