Milan Design Week mapped

Milan Design Week will take over Milan from April 20 to 26, with the city’s design calendar now stretching far beyond the trade fair into neighborhoods, villas and former industrial sites. (fuorisalone.it) The fair itself, Salone del Mobile, runs April 21 to 26 at the Rho fairgrounds, while Fuorisalone events start a day earlier and spread across the city. Fuorisalone’s official guide lists 846 events for the 2026 edition. (wallpaper.com, fuorisalone.it) This year’s map includes first-time venues that most visitors do not usually see, including Villa Pestarini, Casa Rossa, Palazzo Acerbi, Piscina Romano, Palazzo Olivazzi and the Crespi Bonsai Museum. Wallpaper reported that several of these spaces are opening to Design Week crowds for the first time. (wallpaper.com) Villa Pestarini is one of the clearest examples of that shift. The Modernist house, designed by Franco Albini and completed in 1939, has remained a private family home until Alcova secured it as one of its 2026 sites, alongside the nearby Baggio military hospital. (wallpaper.com) Fuorisalone’s organizers are also adding new tools to manage the crowds inside that bigger footprint. Fuorisalone.it said its new Passport system starts in the Brera Design District, where visitors can register once and receive a personal Quick Response code for participating events. (fuorisalone.it) Milan’s city government is changing traffic rules for the same week. MilanoToday reported that the Comune di Milano approved a special mobility plan with pedestrian islands, traffic restrictions and logistics changes in core Fuorisalone districts. (milanotoday.it) In Via Durini, even taxis and hired cars will be barred for the full run of the event, and freight loading will be limited to 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. In Brera, closures around Largo Treves and Via Solferino will begin each evening from April 20 to 24, then start earlier on April 25 and 26. (milanotoday.it) The biggest closure is planned in Tortona, where MilanoToday said a large pedestrian zone will cover streets from Via Savona to Via Bergognone and extend toward Piazzale Stazione Genova and Largo delle Culture. Hours widen as the week goes on, from 5 p.m. starts early in the week to 10 a.m. starts on April 25 and 26. (milanotoday.it) Not every vehicle is excluded. MilanoToday said residents heading to private property or garages, taxis, hired cars and vehicles serving hotels will still be allowed into Brera and Tortona under exemptions, with some access also preserved for businesses that have private internal parking. (milanotoday.it) The result is a Milan Design Week that now works as two overlapping events: a trade fair at Rho from April 21 to 26, and a citywide circuit from April 20 to 26 that turns private homes, civic buildings and whole streets into part of the show. (wallpaper.com, fuorisalone.it, milanotoday.it)