As the design world descends on Milan for Salone del Mobile 2023, and the city's palazzos and hidden spaces are transformed into hubs of creativity, discover Cabana's highly curated guide to the festival.

CAFE CABANA GIACOMO

Don’t miss Cabana’s very own installation in the courtyards of historic Palazzo Morando. Cafè Cabana Giacomo, in partnership with Milanese institution, the Renzo Mongiardino-designed restaurant, Di Giacomo, is both an impeccably designed pop-up - featuring fabulous David Hicks-inspired table scapes, Federico Forquet for FuturLiberty fabrics and elegant chairs by Cabana favorite, Bonacina - and a relaxing spot for coffee, lunch or dinner. Combine it with a visit to Palazzo Morando’s museum ‘Costume, Moda, Immagine’ (read more below).

Cafè Cabana Giacomo, open 10am-5:30pm and 6:30-8:30pm until 23 April.

FUTURLIBERTY

Marking its 150th anniversary with a new fabric collection - designed in collaboration with couturier and interior designer, Federico Forquet - Liberty will showcase the designs across two large-scale exhibitions in Milan. Museo del Novecento and Palazzo Morando will both exhibit the FuturLiberty collection of bold, geometric prints (which highlight Liberty’s tradition of developing dynamic and abstract designs), alongside prominent Futurist and Vorticist artworks from the Tate and British Council, among others. The exhibitions are curated by internationally renowned art historian and curator, Ester Coen, with artistic direction by Federico Forquet.

Museo del Novecento; Palazzo Morando

DIMORESTUDIO

Dimorestudio will celebrate its 20th anniversary with two opposing installations: Silence in the new Dimore centrale headquarters, a bold, imposing space, and No Sense in the historic apartment at Via Solferino. The studio defines No Sense as a return to the roots of Dimorestudio, Dimoregallery and Dimoremilano, embodying the studio’s beginnings and distinctive character. Meanwhile, it’s pure theatre at Dimore Studio, where a collection of aluminium container-like structures hold impeccably designed Dimore interiors, which you view through windows or peep holes. Each interior has been styled to look as though the inhabitant just left the room - bowls of half-eaten pasta, a recently stubbed cigarette, a dinner party in progress - and all are matched with an evocative soundscape.

No Sense, Via Solferino 11; Silence, Via Sammartini 63; 18-23 April.

TEATRO ALBERS

A new platform by Ambra Medda and Veronica Sommaruga - AMO - will collaborate with the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation to present Teatro Albers, a celebration of contemporary handmade design. You'll want to visit for the special setting too; it's taking place in the theater space of a nunnery, the Instituto Marcelline Tommaseo.

Via Francesco Petrarca (corner Piazza Tommaseo); 17-20 April, 10am-5pm.

ALCOVA

After presenting contemporary design showcases in former bakeries, cashmere factories and even a military hospital, Alcova will now transform the vast, abandoned space of Ex-Macello di Porta Vittoria - a former abattoir in a hidden corner of Milan - by bringing together more than 70 projects, each exploring a different area of contemporary design. Alcova, Viale Molise 62; showing 17-23 April, 11am-7pm (last access 6pm)

NILUFAR

Nilufar’s Salone 2023 exhibition, The Bright Side of Design, will showcase collections of complementary art and design works, focusing on a dialogue between old masters, such as Osvaldo Borsani, and contemporary designers and makers, including Michael Anastassiades and Osanna Visconti. Meanwhile, in the atrium of Nilufar’s depot, a cavernous industrial space softened by flowing sheer curtains and brightly-colored objets, the gallery is showing Poikilos, an extraordinary collection of iridescent liquid resin furniture from Athens-based duo, Objects of Common Interest. 

Nilufar, Via della Spiga 32; Nilufar Depot; Viale Vincenzo Lancetti 34; 18-23 April, 10am-7pm. 

ALBERTO LEVI GALLERY

This leading Milan gallery will mark Salone del Mobile 2023 by showcasing the work of two exciting textile designers: Clara Bona and Jan Kath, the latter famed for translating the iconography of classical rugs into modern, signature pieces, underpinned by craftsmanship and preservation. Kath describes his hand-knotted carpets as, ‘islands of well-being in every home’. Opening Wednesday 19 April.