On the occasion of Design Week 2026, the ADI Design Museum will be brought to life with exhibitions, installations, and talks. The program includes the exhibition of the XXIX edition of the Compasso d’Oro, contemporary Italian design that transforms the world, a solo show by Japanese designer Haruka Misawa, an installation by Mario Botta inspired by Le Corbusier, and projects by international designers.
April 20 – 26 / 10:30 AM – 9:00 PM
PROGRAM:
EXHIBITIONS
XXIX Compasso d’Oro 2026
The exhibition of finalists competing for the Compasso d’Oro award, the historic Italian design prize founded in 1954 from an idea by Gio Ponti, now in its 29th edition. An opportunity to discover products, visions, and experiments that show how design interprets the present and imagines the future, expressing the evolution of society and its languages.
The winners will be revealed at the award ceremony on May 22, 2026.
Opening: April 15 | 6 PM
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bit by bit
by Haruka Misawa
The first solo exhibition in Italy of one of the most promising young Japanese designers, presenting a working method based on gradual approaches, minimal variations, and almost invisible attentions. In an era of image and information overload, Misawa’s practice proposes the opposite gesture: focusing on what is close, ordinary, and seemingly insignificant. A poetic and rigorous investigation into the value of observation and the ability of design to make the imperceptible visible.
Opening: April 20 | 12 PM
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Heritage Reimagined, SOBAN
by Seoul Design Foundation
An exhibition that reinterprets a symbol of traditional Seoul domestic culture in a contemporary key, narrating the city’s lifestyle through traditional Korean craftsmanship techniques—woodworking, lacquering, and mother-of-pearl inlay—in dialogue with advanced technologies and digital fabrication.
Opening: April 20 | 4 PM
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Oluce, 80 anni di luce a Milano
by Francesco Rota
Eighty years of history celebrated through a visual narrative retracing the creative and cultural heritage of the historic company, looking at the past as a living material still capable of generating new perspectives.
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Design evolutivo, la forma della Meraviglia
by CHICCO
A narrative of the design process based on observing a child’s growth. An evolutionary design approach that translates needs and relationships into solutions capable of adapting over time.
INSTALLATIONS
ICOSAEDRO
by Mario Botta
A wooden architecture from Trentino that connects design, landscape, and community. Inspired by the Cabanon, Le Corbusier’s famous shelter, the project presents a small dwelling designed to harmonize with the Alpine landscape from the garden in front of the museum.
A project by the Autonomous Province of Trento, coordinated by TrentinoSviluppo.
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GOOD DESIGN CITIES
by Massimiliano Mandarini
Imagining the city of the future as a human, sustainable, and biophilic space, where design and responsibility guide new forms of coexistence between humans and nature.
Opening and conference: April 21 | 4 PM
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VESPA – 80 years of an icon
by Piaggio
Two vehicles expressing origin and contemporaneity: the Vespa 98, the first model from 1946 that defines the foundational traits of an icon of Italian design, and its celebratory model created for the 80th anniversary.
EVENTS
Book presentation | Jeong: The Spirit of Korean Craft and Design
by PHAIDON
An exploration of Korean design that, through works and objects, narrates the dialogue between cultural heritage and contemporaneity.
In conversation with the author Hyo Jung Lee
April 20 | 11 AM
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Award ceremony and round table | DBEW Design Award 2026
Award ceremony and round table for the international design prize that promotes co-creation between students and professors, redefining design as an expression of collective intelligence.
In conversation with the jury: Paola Antonelli, John Thackara, Stefano Giovannoni, Angela Rui, Kazuhiro Yamanaka and others.
April 21 | 10 AM
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Book presentation | Le caffettiere dei maestri
by Giulio Iacchetti
The coffee maker is both ritual and symbol of Italian living: simple, yet capable of delivering a unique pleasure. Twenty-four reinterpretations of the moka confirm its iconic value.
With the author: Luciano Galimberti (ADI President), Patrizia Scarzella (Architect and Journalist), Pietro Corraini (Publisher)
April 26 | 11 AM
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Book presentation | Light from Italy. Da Fattori a Morandi
by Guicciardo Sassoli de’ Bianchi Strozzi, published by Treccani
Catalogue of the exhibition of the same name, which brings into dialogue masterpieces of Italian art from the 19th and 20th centuries with works of Latvian art, exploring light as a shared language.
April 26 | 6 PM
