On the occasion of Milano Design Week, the leading international event for the world of design, NABA, in collaboration with CIAL, Consorzio Nazionale per il Riciclo degli Imballaggi in Alluminio, presents the installation "Extreme Environments". Curated by Claudio Larcher (NABA Design Area Leader), the project stems from a shared research process involving students from the Design Area, supervised by designer and lecturer Andrea Mancuso and Sofia D'Andrea (NABA Design Academic Assistant), as well as students from the Master of Arts in Creative Media Production for the development of the multimedia content, overseen by Course Leader Michele Aquila.
On display from 21 to 26 April 2026, as part of MoscaPartners Variations 2026, the collective exhibition celebrating design through constantly evolving visions - whose theme for this edition is Metamorphosis - will be open to visitors at one of Milan's most iconic historic buildings, Palazzo Litta (Corso Magenta, 24).
"Extreme Environments" invites visitors to reflect on how design can respond, adapt and generate new visions in extreme contexts: from vertical cities to remote locations, from prohibitive temperatures to situations of severe social fragility, exploring boundaries and new possibilities. The environment, indeed, can no longer be understood solely as nature or landscape: extreme temperatures, overcrowded cities set against deserted and silent spaces, technologies that amplify perception, and natural spaces in steady retreat. The very concept of "environment" today extends far beyond the natural landscape: it is also a climatic condition, a habitable space, and a social and cultural ecosystem.
The installation will welcome visitors to Palazzo Litta through an immersive, research-driven experience that explores new perceptual relationships among space, matter, and the individual through physical and archetypal forms. Sculptural totems in aluminium sheet, integrated with audiovisual content on LED screens, will be the elements in dialogue with the historic space - through contrasts between natural and artificial, lightness and solidity, reflection and distortion - transforming the metallic surfaces into perceptual devices capable of amplifying and reinterpreting the experience of space.
In addition, "Extreme Environments" will also feature a mechanical structure that dissolves the boundary between physical matter and digital code: a poetic weather machine created by Ernst Markus Stein, a multidisciplinary artist, with thanks to Carmelo Zocco and Francesco Cotta Ramosino from the NABA Design Lab. A RexRotary M4 cyclostyle machine stands atop a plinth made of two stacked TV monitors: a sculptural totem composed of restored and seemingly obsolete media, creating an endless loop of aluminium fed through the machine's rollers. Aluminium is considered a "permanent material", infinitely recyclable, yet as a printing surface it represents an "extreme environment" on which ink struggles to adhere.
Join the experience: head to this page, discover the six totems created by our students for the installation and vote for your favourite. You could get the chance to join a workshop at NABA!
NABA at Milano Design Week 2026: the Academy partners with Archiproducts Milano
From 20 to 26 April, the Academy partners with Archiproducts Milano, which presents its new Interior Design project for Milano Design Week 2026: "Fòco. Living Notes by Studiopepe". The project is signed by Arianna Lelli Mami and Chiara Di Pinto, founders and Creative Directors of Studiopepe.
With "Fòco", the final chapter of the quadrilogy of the elements is unveiled - a curatorial journey that over the years has explored Earth, Water and Air, now arriving at Fire. Students from the Master of Arts in Creative Media Production (Gaia Cattaneo, Mirko Ditroia, Anna Fratucello, Jiutong Guo, Claudia Santillan, Elisabetta Vitale), supervised by Course Leader Michele Aquila and NABA lecturer Filippo Marta, will interpret the new concept within the Archiproducts Milano showroom, located at Via Tortona 31.
Video and sound will guide visitors through an immersive experience inside the Listening Room, where the natural element is understood as a transformative, ever-moving force capable of altering perception and leaving traces on the gaze and on image-capturing devices through phenomena such as retinal persistence, double exposure and image distortion. During Milano Design Week, the experience will be further enriched by interactive audiovisual performances. The installation will remain permanent and open to visitors throughout 2026.
NABA at Milano Design Week 2026: further projects across the city
During Milano Design Week 2026, NABA is present with numerous additional projects throughout the city.
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Studioart Leather Interiors, students from the Master of Arts programmes in Social Design, Interior Design and Product and Service Design are involved in a new interpretation of Leatherwall, within a design concept that celebrates the company's values, vision and contemporary approach through innovative and sustainable patterns, also developed using recycled offcuts and aligned with the brand's identity. On display from 20 to 26 April at Via Solferino 37: fifteen student projects and the physical prototype of the winning design.
At the Freitag Store Milano (Viale Pasubio 8), visitors will be able to explore "NABA x FREITAG: THE MESSENGER IS ON THE TABLE": on show from 20 April to 4 May 2026, ten design reinterpretations of the upcycled F11 LASSIE messenger bag, developed by students from the Design and Fashion Design Areas, with an exhibition set-up curated by students from the Master of Arts in Interior Design. To celebrate the collaboration, on Thursday 23 April an evening open to the public will take place, dedicated to dialogue and design, featuring a talk with Claudio Larcher (NABA Design Area Leader), Germana De Michelis (NABA BA in Design Course Leader), Antonio De Marco (NABA lecturer) and Giulia Chehab (Holistic Product Designer at FREITAG), followed by an aperitif.
On 22 April, from 5 PM to 8 PM, fashion designer Laura Urbinati will host, in the spaces at Via Col di Lana 8, the workshop-event "STOP THINKING, MAKE THINGS: dream and create using your hands and your heart". Large tables will be set up with working materials, sewing machines and containers filled with fabric scraps, which will be reused by a number of NABA students from the Fashion Design Area to create bandanas, tote bags, pouches, embroidery or even paint them.
Students from the Design Area will also participate in an event in collaboration with Fessura, which will involve them on 23 April, from 2 PM onwards, in a live customisation session of the sneaker model by designer Karim Rashid, at the flagship store (Corso di Porta Ticinese 22).
Finally, the Academy will take part in "Ordine Aperto", a collective exhibition in the heart of the Brera Design District, hosted at the headquarters of the Milan Order of Architects on Via Solferino 17, with the project "Spazi che fanno comunità. Abitare cooperativo a Niguarda", developed through a joint collaboration between NABA, the Politecnico di Milano and Abitare Società Cooperativa. The projects by students from the BA in Design propose a redefinition of domestic spaces through a collaborative lens and will be on display from the opening on 20 April.
NABA at Milano Design Week 2026: events programme
From Tuesday 21 April to Sunday 26 April
Installation "Extreme Environments" in collaboration with CIAL, Consorzio Nazionale per il Riciclo degli Imballaggi in Alluminio
at MoscaPartners Variations 2026, Palazzo Litta
Corso Magenta 24, Milan
From Tuesday 21 April to Saturday 25 April: open to the public from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM (last admission at 7:00 PM).
Sunday 26 April: open to the public from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM (last admission at 5:00 PM).
Free admission
From Monday 20 April to Sunday 26 April
Installation "Fòco. Living notes by Studiopepe" in collaboration with Archiproducts Milano
Archiproducts Milano Showroom
Via Tortona 31, Milan
Free admission
From Monday 20 April to Sunday 26 April
Exhibition of student projects reinterpreting Leatherwall for Studioart Leather Interiors
Via Solferino 37, Milan
Free admission
From Monday 20 April to Monday 4 May
"NABA x FREITAG: The Messenger is on the table": exhibition of 10 reinterpretations of the messenger bag created by our students
Freitag Store Milano
Viale Pasubio 8, Milan
Free admission
From Tuesday 21 April to Sunday 26 April
"Spazi che fanno comunità. Abitare cooperativo a Niguarda", as part of the exhibition "Ordine Aperto"
at Ordine degli Architetti di Milano, Via Solferino 17
Free admission
Thursday 23 April, from 6:30 PM
Talk featuring NABA lecturers and FREITAG's Holistic Product Designer, followed by an aperitif
Freitag Store Milano
Viale Pasubio 8, Milan
Free admission
Wednesday 22 April, from 5 PM to 8 PM
NABA with Laura Urbinati for "STOP THINKING, MAKE THINGS: dream and create using your hands and your heart"
Via Col di Lana 8, Milan
Free admission
Thursday 23 April, from 2 PM
Live customisation of the sneaker model by Fessura, with talk by designer Karim Rashid
Fessura Flagship Store
Corso di Porta Ticinese 22, Milan
Free admission