Appartamento Spagnolo: A Highlight of the Milan Design Week 2026

Interiors from Spain and the Italian magazine Elle Decor Italia once again took center stage at “Milan Design Week” with the Appartamento Spagnolo. This exclusive installation, held from April 20 to 26, showcased the excellence of Spanish design to the nearly 65,000 professionals and members of the public who visited it as part of the Fuorisalone.

This is the fourth time that ICEX, together with the Economic and Trade Office of Spain in Milan has organized the “Appartamento Spagnolo”, and this year, for the third year in a row, it will be held at Palazzo Castiglioni, a palace built by the Italian architect Giuseppe Sommaruga in the early 20th century, which stands as the artistic “manifesto” of Milanese art nouveau. Previously, it was held at the Cervantes Institute in Milan in 2022, and in this historic Milanese building in 2024 and 2025. 

The project, executed and curated by the architecture studio Studiopepe showcased a carefully selected range of design pieces from 22 Spanish companies in the home and living sector. The installation coincided with this year’s most important fair in the furniture sector (Salone del Mobile de Milano), attended by 48 Spanish companies representing 68 brands. Spain was the second country, after Italy, with the highest number of exhibitors at the Salone del Mobile de Milano.

Arianna Lelli Mami and Chiara Di Pinto, founders of Studiopepe, commented on the installation: “We have conceived a contemporary apartment as a true house within a house, capable of asserting its own identity and autonomy in relation to the palace’s decorative context.” They added: “With the aim of conveying an idea of today’s home and sparking a sense of discovery, we devised maxi pods with organic, enveloping volumes that evoke the shape of a cell and house the different exhibition spaces.”

As the designers explained: “Each maxi cell is a place unto itself, surrounded by metallic curtains that instill an element of surprise. When touched, they produce a delicate sound; when opened, the visitor enters a different space where they can discover furniture and accessories integrated into our vision of a contemporary home.” The guiding thread was a sophisticated palette, modulated by predominant chocolate tones, punctuated here and there with touches of pastel green and acid yellow, “that recapture the very best of Spanish production.”

Set out like a set of Chinese boxes, the Pavoni Room housed the module containing the living room; the Liberty Room housed the kitchen and dining room; and the Sommaruga Room served as the entryway to the bedroom and bathroom. Outside, the splendor of the Winter Garden stood out. Check out this video to see this spectacular installation.

Another highlight of the Fuorisalone was the installation “Spanish design as a souvenir”, organized by Tile of Spain, the result of a collaboration between ICEX and ASCER, which could be visited at the University of Milan (La Statale). Conceived by the Madrid-based studio CODOO STUDIO, the proposal took shape as a contemporary still life on an architectural scale, where 11 sculptural totems clad in ceramics from 15 Spanish companies came together, combining Spanish design icons, everyday objects, and cultural references reinterpreted in ceramic.