During this guided walking tour you will get to visit the design studios and workshops of designers and architects that wrote the history of Italian design and come up close with the latest complexes dedicated entirely to design in Milan.

First stop is the house-museum of the world famous designer Achille Castiglioni, which opened to the public in 2006, thanks to the collaboration with the Triennale design museum. The studio contains a huge archive of projects, drawings, photos, models, prototypes, books and films collected over the extraordinary 60 year career of one of the most important figures in twentieth century Italian design.

The tour continues to the Vico Magistretti foundation. Architect, university professor,and designer, Magistretti worked for historic brands like Artemide, Cassina, Oluce and Kartell, to name but a few. He was Professor at the Royal College of Art in London and winner of several international prizes including the prestigious Compasso d’Oro in 1995. Furnishings and lighting designed by Magistretti are part of the permanent exhibition at the MOMA and Victoria & Albert Museum.

Next stop is the must-see Triennale di Milano that opened it’s doors in 2007, it is the first museum on Italian soil entirely dedicated to design with an important permanent gallery and exhibition space for shows and exhibits as well as an area for conferences and workshops that often explore experimental aspects on the theme.

Lunch at the Design Café overlooking the gardens of the Triennale complex, where you get to sit on a ‘revolving exhibition’ of over a hundred chairs that are changed continuously in a novel living design museum.

After lunch we’ll grab a quick espresso at the Design Library in the lively Zona Tortona, a Mecca of books, magazines and films all dedicated to international design. The space is frequently used for design and architecture related talks and other events.

Time to move on to the new headquarters for the Association of Industrial Design in Italy or ADI, (opened in spring 2015). The 5 000 square meter- a former industrial space- has been transformed into a complex with a permanent museum for the extraordinary collection of furniture, lighting and design objects that have won the Compasso d’Oro design prize as well as temporary exhibits and events.
The tour ends with a poolside aperitif at the nearby Ceresio 7, opened in summer 2013 in the former Enel (Italian Electricity company) building on via Ceresio. It was transformed into a restaurant and currently one of the hippest addresses in Milan by the Canadian designer twins Dean and Dan Caten, better known as Dsquared2.

Our design itineraries can be made to measure to suit specific needs or interests like lighting, furnishings, textiles and industrial design.

Contact us here for information and reservations.