From April 20 to 26, the ADI Design Museum will be buzzing with exhibitions, installations, and talks. Featured highlights include the 29th edition of the Compasso d’Oro, Italy’s prestigious design award that has been shaping the world for over 70 years, a solo exhibition by Japanese designer Haruka Misawa, an installation by Mario Botta, inspired by the work of Le Corbusier, and innovative projects from emerging designers worldwide.
April 20 – 26 / 10:30 AM – 9:00 PM

PROGRAM

Exhibitions:

XXIX Compasso d’Oro 2026
An exhibition of contemporary Italian design selected by the international jury of the historic Compasso d’Oro Award, which has been transforming the world for over 70 years, founded in 1954 from an idea by Gio Ponti.
The winners will be announced on May 22 during the official award ceremony.

Opening: April 15 | 6:00 PM

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Bit by Bit – Haruka Misawa
The first solo exhibition in Milan by the Japanese designer. Installations and experimental projects transform everyday materials and gestures into sensory experiences, inviting the public to observe the environment from a new perspective.

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Heritage Reimagined, Soban. Korean Design – Seoul Life 2026
An exhibition of objects exploring traditional Korean craftsmanship techniques—woodworking, lacquerware, and mother-of-pearl inlay—in dialogue with advanced technologies and digital fabrication.

Opening: April 20 | 4:30 PM

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Other installations and events:
 

Oluce, 80 Years of Light in Milan
Eighty years of history celebrated through an immersive installation retracing the brand’s creative and cultural heritage, looking at the past as a living material still capable of generating new visions.

Opening: April 23 | 6:00 PM (by invitation only)

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DBEW Design Award 2026
Award ceremony and round table for the international design prize promoting co-creation between students and teachers, redefining design as an expression of collective intelligence. The jury is chaired by Paola Antonelli and includes John Thackara, Stefano Giovannoni, Angela Rui, Kazuhiro Yamanaka, and others.

April 21 | 10:00 AM

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Icosaedro
A wooden architectural structure from Trentino that connects design, landscape, and community, designed by Mario Botta and inspired by Le Corbusier’s Cabanon, will be installed in the garden in front of the museum. Project by the Autonomous Province of Trento, coordinated by TrentinoSviluppo.

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EVOLUTIONARY DESIGN. The Shape of Wonder
Exhibition and installation of Chicco products.

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Good Design Cities
by Massimiliano Mandarini
The city of the future: human-centered, sustainable, and biophilic. Fair, vibrant, and conscious cities that do not seek to dominate nature but to coexist with it. Living the future by building it every day, through small and large choices, both individual and collective.

Opening talk and round table: April 21 | 4:00 PM

Promoted by the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart and the Archdiocese of Milan

10:45 AM | Trasformazioni silenziose – Guided tour of the historical Compasso d’Oro collection.
11:45 AM | Chiaro, scuro. Nuovi spazi di opportunità – Workshop on the concept of “negative space.”
2:45 PM | Klore, abitare il mistero dell’altro  – Performance followed by a final discussion.
3:00 PM | Frankenstein, un mistero nei corpi – Dialogue group on the body and transformation.
4:30 PM | Tra terreno e ultraterreno – Conversation with Vasco Brondi.
6:00 PM | Siamo tutti Origines, tutti individui con identità plurali – Screening of three short films by Amir Ra followed by a discussion.

Free admition

Two events at the museum focusing on 20th-century and contemporary musical research.

March 18, 7 PM | Mario Caroli
A flute recital featuring works by Claude Debussy, Toshio Hosokawa, André Jolivet, Kaija Saariaho, Nadir Vassena, Doina Rotaru, and Maria Eugenia Luc.

March 22, 5 PM | New MADE Ensemble
A performance dedicated to John Cage and Morton Feldman, key figures of postwar musical experimentation.