BLU CORTÉ

This year at Milan Design Week, I visited exhibitions by Kia, Lexus, Louis Vuitton and many others each one more immersive than the last. The lighting, sound, materiality, and movement through space all felt carefully orchestrated. You walk in and something shifts. The air feels different. You slow down. But after moving through exhibition after exhibition, I kept asking myself: what is all of this actually trying to say? As someone studying Strategic Design at POLI.Design with a background in architecture, I’ve been trained to think about space beyond aesthetics what it communicates, how it shapes behavior, and what ideas it carries. What struck me this year was how much of Design Week felt centred around sensation. The experiences were beautiful and incredibly well executed, but increasingly it felt like immersion itself had become the message. At the same time, some of the most meaningful projects were hidden away in quieter corners of Brera and Tortona smaller studios and emerging designers using design to explore real questions about culture, cities, sustainability, and the future of living. That contrast stayed with me. When some of the most talked-about installations come from automotive companies and luxury fashion houses, it inevitably says something about visibility, influence, and who gets to shape the conversation around design. And to be clear, the work was genuinely impressive. Brands like Kia, Lexus, and Louis Vuitton understand experience design at a level many traditional studios still struggle to achieve. But I left Milan Design Week feeling more reflective than inspired. Not because the work lacked quality, but because the line between design as cultural exploration and design as spectacle is becoming increasingly blurred. For one week, Milan becomes a stage. Brands become the storytellers. And somewhere within all the beautiful noise, the quieter ideas become harder to hear. 📸 & ✍️ Credits: Abhinav Pasupula {hashtag|\#|MilanDesignWeek} {hashtag|\#|StrategicDesign} {hashtag|\#|Architecture} {hashtag|\#|DesignCulture} {hashtag|\#|SpatialDesign} {hashtag|\#|ExperienceDesign} {hashtag|\#|POLIDesign} {hashtag|\#|SaloneDelMobile}

This year at Milan Design Week, I visited exhibitions by Kia, Lexus, Louis Vuitton and many others each one more immersive than the last.

The lighting, sound, materiality, and movement through space all felt carefully orchestrated. You walk in and something shifts. The air feels different. You slow down.

But after moving through exhibition after exhibition, I kept asking myself: what is all of this actually trying to say?

As someone studying Strategic Design at POLI.Design with a background in architecture, I’ve been trained to think about space beyond aesthetics what it communicates, how it shapes behavior, and what ideas it carries.

What struck me this year was how much of Design Week felt centred around sensation. The experiences were beautiful and incredibly well executed, but increasingly it felt like immersion itself had become the message.

At the same time, some of the most meaningful projects were hidden away in quieter corners of Brera and Tortona smaller studios and emerging designers using design to explore real questions about culture, cities, sustainability, and the future of living.

That contrast stayed with me.

When some of the most talked-about installations come from automotive companies and luxury fashion houses, it inevitably says something about visibility, influence, and who gets to shape the conversation around design.

And to be clear, the work was genuinely impressive. Brands like Kia, Lexus, and Louis Vuitton understand experience design at a level many traditional studios still struggle to achieve.

But I left Milan Design Week feeling more reflective than inspired.

Not because the work lacked quality, but because the line between design as cultural exploration and design as spectacle is becoming increasingly blurred.

For one week, Milan becomes a stage. Brands become the storytellers. And somewhere within all the beautiful noise, the quieter ideas become harder to hear.

📸 & ✍️ Credits: Abhinav Pasupula