Brera Design Apartment: a journey through “Horizons”
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Leila Stabile
There are places that speak through surfaces, colors, and materials. Spaces that tell layered stories, made of memory, inspiration and vision. The Brera Design Apartment is one of them, and every year, during Milan Design Week, it turns into a laboratory of ideas, welcoming the deepest reflections of contemporary design. For 2025, the heart of the Brera Design District beats to the rhythm of “Horizons,” the project signed by the Zanellato/Bortotto studio, a manifesto of connections, contaminations and imaginative journeys.
“Horizons”: a concept between art and inner geography
Entering the Brera Design Apartment during Milan Design Week means plunging into a sensory and material tale, where the horizon is not just a distant line, but an invitation to explore and question what lies beyond.
Daniele Bortotto and Giorgia Zanellato, together with Nathalie Borgeaud, conceived “Horizons” as an ode to memory, history, and craft tradition, using materials, textures, and color nuances to create a dialogue between the past and the future. The project develops following the theme proposed by Fuorisalone 2025, “Connected Worlds,” suggesting a continuous interaction between disciplines, knowledge and visions.
“The horizon is the first point of reference for orientation, but also a push to overcome imposed limits” Zanellato and Bortotto tell.
A palimpsest of artists and works
“Horizons” is an encounter between art and design, a place where each element dialogues with the space and enriches its narrative. Among the artists featured, Giuditta Verdrame‘s deconstructed maps explore new imaginary geographies, while Francesco Pedrini‘s works, selected by Nicola Ricciardi, Miart’s Artistic Director, narrate time and space through changing skies, stars and infinite horizons.
Rounding out the visual narrative are Valentina Sommariva‘s shots, which investigate the relationship between man and living space, and Laura Sans Gassó‘s video “Eco,” a work about desire and continuous movement toward new discoveries.
No less relevant is the contribution of Galleria Luisa Delle Piane, which enriches the space with iconic pieces by Andrea Branzi, Ingo Maurer, Andrea Bellosi and Lisa Ponti, creating a bridge between different eras and design sensibilities.
An apartment as a map of emotions
The Brera Design Apartment is structured into six environments, each with its own visual and narrative identity. The entrance, titled “Campi,” is inspired by natural landscapes with colors and tactile surfaces created in collaboration with Rezina. The journey continues to the bathroom, conceived as a “Vulcano,” a tribute to the lunar landscapes of Etna, with textural mosaics and pigments obtained from volcanic powders thanks to the mastery of Botteganove and Rezina. Here, Agape’s collection of furniture and faucets completes the experience, blending art and functionality.
A living place, an experience by appointment
“Horizons” doesn’t end during the days of Design Week: the Brera Design Apartment remains a pulsating space of ideas and encounters, where designers, artists and visitors can confront each other in an intimate and refined context. Between talks, dinners and moments of sharing, the project becomes a platform for human and cultural connections, in the true spirit of the Brera Design District.
The apartment is not just a place to visit, but an experience to live, a path that winds between aesthetics, research and imagination. An invitation to look beyond boundaries, to draw new maps, to draw new horizons.
Also contributing to making this experience possible are Main Partners Artecasa, Bolzan and Botteganove, companies whose know-how and design sensibility have enriched the Brera Design Apartment, making it a perfect balance of design, craftsmanship and innovation.
