Iris Ceramica Group is bringing people centre stage through materials in Milan
Through new surfaces developed with Diesel Living with Iris Ceramica and by Sapienstone, the Group redefines materials as narrative mediums and carriers of identity in their design week exhibition.
For the upcoming edition of Milan Design Week 2026, Iris Ceramica Group returns with a multilayered programme that intertwines material innovation, storytelling, and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Hosted at the ICG Gallery in the centre of the city, the Group’s presentation was developed under the overarching Fuorisalone theme “Be the Project,” interpreted through its own curatorial lens “The Humans Behind,” a concept that places people at the centre of a project.
The Italian company’s showroom will be brimming this year, hosting two exceptional projects that showcase three new ceramic surfaces by Sapienstone and a new chapter in the decade-long collaboration of Diesel Living with Iris Ceramica. Open April 20 through 26 in their primary location in Via Santa Margherita 4, we are curious to see how the brand will merge these many novelties under their human-centred theme.
Gallery
Open full width
Open full width
Instead of staging a conventional product showcase, Iris Ceramica Group is constructing a narrative environment in which surfaces become witnesses of who created them, traces of authorship. The exhibition positions the “Person” as the origin of design, shining a spotlight on the creative identities that allow our objects and materials to exist. This ideology extends beyond the physical display, through a live podcast series across four episodes that will feature guests from haute cuisine, design, and fashion, reflecting on the human dimension of a creative practice.
A central highlight of the exhibition is Reloaded: Diesel Living with Iris Ceramica, marking a new beginning in the tenth year of the partnership. Developed under the creative direction of Glenn Martens in collaboration with Controvento, the project introduces a renewed aesthetic direction that merges technological experimentation with Diesel’s distinctive, disruptive visual language, brought to life through Iris Ceramica’s technical expertise.
The collection is structured around two colour blocks, compositional systems that combine large-format slabs with smaller, traditional ceramic surfaces. Two surfaces anchor the narrative conceptually: Distressed Rug takes Persian carpet tradition as its source, translating classical motifs into contemporary pieces, while Acid Majolica reinterprets Portuguese majolica with a deliberate distortion, destabilising its patter for a bold effect. These configurations juxtapose materials and finishes, including metallic glazes, majolica textures, and stone-inspired surfaces, generating layered, “pop” compositions.
A key factor is the Group’s Design Your Slabs (DYS) technology, which allows for high levels of customisation, effectively turning ceramic surfaces into expressive canvases. Within Reloaded, this technology is used to produce highly individualised surfaces, reinforcing the idea of ceramics as a medium for a contemporary personal and stylistic expression rather than purely architectural applications.
Alongside Diesel Living with Iris Ceramica, Sapienstone, a brand within Iris Ceramica Group, presents three new ceramic surfaces that translate geological references into high-performance ceramic surfaces. Conceived as a sort of “haute couture” for interiors, these materials explore the contrast between natural memory and industrial precision.
Travessa draws from travertine, reconstructing its layered stratification and tonal range from ivory to hazelnut, offered in natural and cashmere finishes. Breccia Rosa 4D reinterprets Veronese brecciated marble, characterised by complex chromatic compositions of antique pinks and terracotta tones. Its defining feature is 4D technology, which extends the pattern through the full thickness of the slab, ensuring visual continuity even when cut or processed. Lastly, Muschelkalk references a rare Central European limestone, notable for its fluid transitions between warm greys, beige, and slate tones, maintaining chromatic coherence across large surfaces.
All three are produced in 320×160 cm slabs with varying thicknesses, combining aesthetic refinement with the structural performance required for both residential and contract applications.
The show will also expand into a social and educational dimension, through the Quarto Fuoco® initiative, a charity project run by Fondazione Iris Ceramica Group in association with Save the Children, Anffas, and other organisations. Quarto Fuoco® will become a key element in collaboration with chef Davide Oldani, as his restaurants Olmo and D’O will host four special dishes designed by people from the charity association, creating a unique gastronomic experience under the themes of humanity, passion, and inspiration. Here, ceramics will operate not only as a material but as a tool for inclusion and storytelling.
Across its various presentations, Iris Ceramica Group articulates a coherent position: ceramics are not just surfaces but carriers of meaning, shaped by human and personal intention and capable of bridging different disciplines and different imaginaries. Whether through the expressive compositions of Diesel Living with Iris Ceramica, the material reinterpretations of Sapienstone, or the socially engaged practices of Quarto Fuoco®, the Group frames its work within a broader cultural discourse.
At Milan Design Week 2026, this approach becomes particularly resonant as we realise that design is not so much about objects but about the people who think them, who make them, and who use them. Iris Ceramica Group‘s contribution expands on Fuorisalone’s original theme, proposing that “be the project” is not only to design, but to embed oneself within a network of relationships that allow for creation.
In this sense, ceramics become no longer neutral backdrops but narrative devices, where identities and collaborations are inscribed, capable of holding memory, intention, and cultural value. This approach positions the Group as a storyteller beyond being a manufacturer, using its capabilities and materials to articulate a vision of design that is at once technological and deeply human.
