Design of Play runs in Milan

A board-game exhibition opened near Milan on April 10 and runs through May 10, stretching well beyond the city’s main design-week rush. (gamescenes.org) “0–99. Design per gioco” is installed at Palazzo Arese Borromeo in Cesano Maderno, at Via Borromeo 41, and is promoted by the Municipality of Cesano Maderno. The show is curated by Cristian Confalonieri, with concept and co-curation by Alessia Interlandi. (fuorisalone.it) The exhibition traces board games from ancient examples to modern mass-market titles. Organizers say the route starts with 30 ancient games, including the Royal Game of Ur, Go, chess, dominoes, cards and tombola. (fuorisalone.it) It then moves into 20th-century staples including Cluedo, Forza 4, Monopoli and Risiko. Risiko appears as a giant playable installation covering 90 square meters. (gamescenes.org) The show places board games inside Milan’s design conversation by treating them as designed objects, not just leisure products. Fuorisalone describes the board game here as a cultural object that expresses identities and social rules through pieces, boards and systems of play. (fuorisalone.it) That framing also fits the 2026 Milan Design Week calendar, which centers on the theme “Be the Project” and runs from April 19 to April 26. Gamescenes notes that “0–99” starts before Fuorisalone and continues after it, giving the exhibition a longer timetable than the core week of events. (designweekguide.com) (gamescenes.org) Several sections focus on authorship and collectible design. Two rooms are dedicated to game designer Alex Randolph, and the exhibition includes Luca Bitonte’s 2022 documentary about him. (gamescenes.org) (abbonamentomusei.it) Other works bring game formats into furniture, textile and luxury-object territory. Listed pieces include a Carrom table by Vismara Design, Gianfranco Frattini’s steel chess set, Valeria Molinari’s backgammon carpet, Pinetti’s leather-and-wood Battleship, and Pineider’s Game of the Goose. (fuorisalone.it) The exhibition also adds a contemporary technology note with “memorIA,” a project by Studiolabo and Silvia Badalotti on artificial intelligence and craft creativity, and ends in a playroom where visitors can play rather than only look. (abbonamentomusei.it) For visitors, the show is priced like a local museum exhibition rather than a trade-fair spectacle: full admission is listed at €5, with reduced tickets at €3. On weekdays, the palace lists opening hours of 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., with later closing at 7 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. (abbonamentomusei.it)