Follow 5VIE’s thread of wonder and become one with it

The instant we awaken our intuition the story begins. Intuition is about a bond as much as it is a guide–an untraceable voice of wisdom, foreign colors, exceptional humor. With time, things somehow start to make more sense. Gifted a brand new set of senses, we discover the meaning and scope of seamlessness. For the 2025 edition of Milan Design Week, 5VIE has chosen to delve into the realms of precisely that subtle balance that can be felt even before it is rationally understood, rediscovering contemporary design as a bridge between worlds. Entitled armonie invisibili, this year’s theme promises an immersive journey through those subtle forces that link the visible and the invisible, form and meaning, object and intuition. 

From April 7 to 13, 2025, 5VIE will bring together craftsmanship, storytelling, collectible pieces and more through a dynamic roster of exhibitions, showcasings, installations and immersive events. In addition to the historic spaces of Palazzo Correnti and SIAM, a special exhibition will be set up in the prestigious Cavallerizze at the National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci. The new venue will showcase inspiring concepts that combine tradition, innovation, experimentation and research in design. 

Favouring instinct over convention, American designer Misha Kahn is set to present Abject, a home and homeware brand that stems from his studio practice. Produced by 5VIE, in Abject: Inhabit the Poché, Kahn’s signature IZK chairs, inspired by a traditional wooden chair design of an Isayaka in Japan, will be showcased in a space draped in fabric, where the silhouettes of the chairs will remain in a constant state of flux, an animated spectacle, a parallel world. Kahn’s exhibit will be showcased at Cavallerizze, the design district’s headquarters, at Via Olona, 4. A collision of craft, technology and material improvisation, the designer’s language draws on a wide and unruly range of influences from the exuberance of Niki de Saint Phalle to the fluidity of Verner Panton. Whether sculpting directly through a computer or building via a wide range of media, Kahn’s visual landscape is one of joy, disorder, togetherness and creative audacity.

Colture Project will unveil OTHER SPACES, an exhibition rooted in experimentation that merges a plethora of professions, experiences and skills that all follow an anthropo-social and ecological approach, co-created together with 5VIE. The result of the encounter between conceptual processes and manual operations, the unique pieces, limited-edition objects, and environmental installation derive from practices in architecture, design, craftsmanship, and contemporary art and will also be on view at 5VIE’s headquarters at Via Olona, 4.

Swiss designer Julie Progin and American artist Jesse Mc Lin, the dynamic duo behind creative studio Julie & Jesse, are led by their focus on ceramic investigations and exploration that stretch across the fields of design, craft and art. Curated by Annalisa Rosso and produced by 5VIE, for their exhibition at Cavallerizze, they will showcase a rich variety of ceramic pieces and objects, in part in a pyramidal display that recalls both archetypal ritual architecture and contemporary modular structures. Founded in Hong Kong and Jingdezhen in 2012, Progin and Mc Lin bring together their distinct perspectives in a shared language of forms as they explore the boundaries of clay and porcelain, stretching its possibilities and working in a state of constant equilibrium, synchronised with the 2025 theme of armonie invisibili. An interplay of contrasts in both color and form, the never-before-seen objects extend well beyond conventional limits of ceramic production in both their aesthetic qualities and technical formulas.

In collaboration with Rometti & Doodle Rugs and 5VIE, Sara Ricciardi Studio’s creative exploration is one of love at its purest–love through the eyes of children. A set of six vases, covered in vibrant sketches by children, will convey a raw essence of affection, imagination, patterns of innocence. Set to unfold at Via Cesare Correnti 14, the vases will be placed on animated carpets featuring even more fluid scribbles, joy turned into fabric–waiting to be embraced, appreciated, savoured.

Anotherview’ Bar Altra Vista will transform the former stables building within 5VIE’s Cavallerizze into an installation of refined and irresistible Italian design. The concept expands upon Trattoria Altra Vista, the pilot project introduced last year at Palazzo Litta. For this year’s exhibition, Anotherview has collaborated with artist and architect Duilio Forte, who reimagined the space within the Cavallerizze as the stylized belly of a whale: a wooden beams structure that delineates a space within a space, fostering an intimate atmosphere like no other and simultaneously highlighting the original charm and grandeur of the setting. 

Lively conversations will erupt amidst a carefully curated selection of contemporary design pieces. Designed by Simone Fanciullacci, Studio F is set to preview two pieces from their inaugural collection. The bar’s walls will showcase select works from Duilio Forte’s Lupus in Fabula. Conceptualised together with street artist Sorte, Chef Aldo Ritrovato of Stadera Milano will take over the dining area. Anotherview’s “Memory of a Travel,” a concept crafted for the British luggage company Globe-Trotter, will also be exclusively revealed. An amalgamation of the minds behind Italian designers and artists–including Anotherview, Andrea Mancuso of Analogia Project, Duilio Forte, Simone Fanciullacci, Matteo Di Ciommo, Benedetta Mori Ubaldini, Andrea Zambelli, Constantino Gucci, and Tonino Negri–Bar Altra Vista will set the pace for a unique and unconventional immersive experience. 

French publisher BOON_EDITIONS has teamed up with Canadian lighting brand A-N-D for the creation of a captivating assortment of functional art and collectible design furniture pieces that elegantly fuse craftsmanship, innovation and enticing creative expression. The BOON_ROOM gallery will house the exclusive exhibition that brings together international designers and artists whose work challenges conventions and redefines the way we experience contemporary design, each playful on their own terms. Internationally recognised for its creative vision and curation, BOON_ROOM will present limited edition furniture, paintings and pieces that blur the line between functionality and art at Via San Vittore Al Teatro 1/3.

Curated by Tony Chambers, Maria Cristina Didero, and for the first time a Singaporean co-curator, Hunn Wai of Lanzavecchia + Wai, DesignSingapore Council’s Future Impact 3: DESIGN NATION is a three-part showcase reflecting on Singapore’s evolving design identity as it celebrates 60 years of design evolution. As a nod to armonie invisibili, time-travelling through the country’s past, present, and future, the exhibition will spotlight ten of Singapore’s most relevant and forward-thinking designers, who harness the power of design and technology to enhance everyday life and address pressing societal issues. Virtuoso Visionaires, the third part of the exhibit, will feature emerging talents utilizing design to tackle humanising technology and post-consumer waste. Future Impact 3: DESIGN NATION will be on display within the breathtaking cathedral setting of Chiesa di San Bernardino alle Monache at Via Lanzone 13.

Giopato & Coombes’s Scarabei is inspired by nature’s patterns of movements, of twists and turns, of pure forms and spontaneous structures that explore and convey the relationship between repetition and freedom, diversity and uniqueness. Envisioning a luminous organism in a continuous expansion, the studio began crafting concave dome-shaped elements, individually cast in aluminum using the ancient sand-casting technique. Each piece, unduplicatable and textural, retains the marks of the artisans’ gestures, as if sculpted by time, and is very much in sync with 5VIE’s theme of armonie invisibili. In every one of the luminous clusters crafted by Giopato & Coombes and set to be on display at Via San Maurilio 19, light does more than illuminate as it becomes fluid and one with the material. The luminous ecosystem will trigger a dialogue with the observer like no other.

A leader in the marble industry, Margraf’s CRASH by Hannes Peer Architecture, will make its dazzling debut at Spazio Big at Via Santa Marta 10. The installation transforms the perception of marble from a symbol of stability and perfection to an element of disruption and revelation, and thus celebrates the material’s tensions, contradictions, and enchanting complexities. As a mere surface becomes a canvas for a turbulent narrative–and rich interpretations of this year’s theme armonie invisibili–the inventive installation explores collision as both a conceptual and physical force, reshaping objects and leaving visible traces of a profound interaction and intention. Inspired by unfinished works by Michelangelo, Luciano Fabro’s collisions with stone to express emotion, and Isamu Noguchi’s rebellious and unduplicatable deconstruction of traditional sculpture techniques, CRASH depicts fracture as an opportunity for reinvention and rejuvenation. 

Once again 5VIE will erupt and leave a mark through unduplicatable experiences, both shared and completely private. armonie invisibili will depict the value of interconnectedness within design and creative means of expression just as much as it will illustrate how much of everyday life can be easily enriched by discovering a thread of wonder and choosing to become one with it.