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The Lake Como Design Festival starts tomorrow for its eighth edition, bringing an ambitious exploration of physical and conceptual edges to northern Italy. Running from 12 to 20 September 2026, this year’s theme, Border, positions limits not as barriers, but as meeting points where new ideas, relationships, and creative tension take shape. In a direct nod to this concept, the festival extends its footprint beyond Como’s historic centre and surrounding waters, introducing new exhibition venues in the nearby city of Lecco.
Alongside its return to beloved historical sites, the 2026 edition debuts a major initiative with top regional academic institutions, including the Politecnico di Milano – Lecco Campus, the University of Insubria, the Como Conservatory, and the Aldo Galli Academy of Como / IED. Together, they bring fresh perspectives from students and researchers directly into the broader design conversation.
Rediscovering archives at Villa del Grumello
At Villa del Grumello, the headline exhibition Future in the Past treats memory as an active workspace rather than a closed vault. The show presents forgotten drawings, research, and unrealised prototypes reinterpreted through modern production methods. Highlights include Lupo Borgonovo’s Disegno Nomade, featuring large-scale drawings and etchings inspired by ancient Eurasian nomadic belt buckles, presented alongside work from Lithos Edizioni and Jaipur Rugs. Historic minimalism takes physical form through AG Fronzoni’s archival pieces shown with his Collezione 64 for Cappellini.
Elsewhere in the villa, designer Nicolò Spinelli and Meda woodworking atelier Simonetto present a gradient eucalyptus wood wall panelling created with Elisa Ossino. Brazilian design heritage receives dedicated space with an exhibition by Etel featuring iconic furniture pieces by Lina Bo Bardi, such as her Carrinho de Chá tea trolley and Cadeira de Balanço rocking chair.
Architectural roots take centre stage with Annarita Aversa’s Proporzione Mediterranea (curated by Giustini Stagetti Gallery), which explores Mediterranean vaulted homes. The Carla Badiali Archive displays historical fashion drawings created for Hubert de Givenchy and Pierre Balmain, while Eredi Marelli presents a rare 1948 bar cabinet by Paolo Buffa, engraved with scenes from Andrea Appiani’s lost cycle The Deeds of Napoleon. Rounding out the interior is Francesca Brambilla’s 1in16 – A Border Divided, a Story Shared, where single sheets of AnimaGrigia paper are divided into unique artistic notebooks sold to support local educational programs.
Out in the surrounding grounds, Parco del Grumello hosts Nella Natura: Stories of Those Who Chose Another Life. Curated by Paola Manfredi with photographs by Selene Magnolia Gatti, the outdoor trail highlights six individuals who traded urban pressures for life on the edge of the wilderness.
Contemporary experimental works at Villa Saporiti
For its fourth year, the Contemporary Design Selection, curated by Giovanna Massoni and directed by festival chief coordinator Francesca Prandelli, moves to Villa Saporiti. This late 18th-century neoclassical villa features a rare elliptical salon and direct lake views. Over fifty designers, collectives, and studios from thirty countries address the Border prompt through functional furniture, lighting, ceramics, textiles, and experimental biomaterials.
The global roster includes Abreaham, Aline Melaet, Anna Merkulova – Malfatto Ceramics, Anticamera, Barbara Munsel, Coco Brun, Chendù, Coline Le Quenven, Collettivo Isola, Dodo Arslan, Dori Oryan & Naama Benziman, Elia Dusi – ArmoniusLab, em ef studio, Emilie Seferaj, Fur. by Studio Bjorn Verlinde, Gerard Kuijpers, Irene Maria Ganser, Jannis Schäfer, Jonathan Sapir, Karla Sotres – Geogrāfica ceramica, Larisa Zolotova, Laura GuildA × Art4Women × ReWeave, Lola Zoido x Badr El Jundi Foundation, Marie Vilay, Marijke De Cock, Marta Gay, Massimo Rigaglia, Mateusz Wappa, Matteo Ragni, Minkyu Park, Monoferments x Legance, NOEMAR, Parali by Aarushi, Patrizia Italiano, Pierre Granier, PLASMA-f, Poorex by Bartosz Mucha, Rosanna Staus, Sandra Battistel, Sanja Lulei, Sara Guerreiro, Sigrid Luitsalu, Sofia Karnukaeva, SPADE, Spinzi, Studio Alessandra Hofmann, Pastina, Studio Von Schoenebeck, Studio Yellowdot x Artisia, The Happy Few, Vikenti Komitski x Sold Out Design Gallery, Vittorio Di Girolamo / Xenia Kwiatkowska, VON DENEN, What’s Wrong Duo, Yelyzaveta Rudenok, and Yu-Hsin Chang.
Sacred spaces, photography, and sound
Inside the former Church of Santa Caterina, Nomade presents Fine Comune, directed by Ultrapresent Studio. The installation pairs monochromatic concrete and metal sculptures by Luca Monterastelli with modular Free System seating by Acerbis, collectable design from Movimento Gallery, and hand-knotted rugs by cc-tapis.
Visual arts continue at the Chiostro di Sant’Abbondio (University of Insubria) with Gente di Confine, a photography exhibition by Alberto Granata curated by Eugenio Bitetti that captures classical stone statues with human warmth. Meanwhile, the Archivio Design Ico Parisi opens its headquarters on Via Diaz to highlight historical collaborations between Ico Parisi and painter Giuliano Collina, showing their 1971 ceramic plates, original photography, and historical documents from the 1976 Venice Biennale project Operazione Arcevia.
Sound takes centre stage at the Como Conservatory with Atto Puro. Curated by Ultrapresent Studio, the project uses their custom Cosmos sound system to play works developed with electronic music students, reinterpreting a late-1970s piece by Giusto Pio and Franco Battiato.
Academic collaborations and accessible design
The new academic network introduces groundbreaking projects focused on social impact and technology. At the Aldo Galli Academy of Como, IED presents After Evidence: From Forensic Purpose to Public Resonance. Part of the Notes on Plural Intelligences project, the show repurposes forensic imagery from the LABANOF skeletal collection into public visual and sound installations.
Expanding into Lecco, the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Politecnico di Milano unveils Oltre al Vedere (Beyond Seeing), curated by Francesca Brambilla under the Cultura Meccanica initiative. The project uses audio-tactile devices and multisensory tools to make artwork accessible to visually impaired visitors. Nearby at the Politecnico di Milano – Lecco Campus, Unstable Borders: Narrative Machines for Telling the Story of a Changing Mountain presents interactive storytelling devices focused on Alpine landslides and environmental shifts.
Visitors can also access local creative spaces through the festival’s Studio Visit program, which opens private design studios, archives, and galleries across the region, alongside guided architectural tours covering Como’s famous Rationalist buildings.
Event details, times, and locations
Dates: 12 – 20 September 2026
General opening hours: Daily exhibitions generally run from 10:00 to 19:00 (check specific venue schedules locally)
Venues and addresses:
- Future in the Past & In Nature: Villa del Grumello & Parco del Grumello, Via per Cernobbio 11, Como
- Contemporary Design Selection: Villa Saporiti, Passeggiata Lino Gelpi, Como
- Fine Comune: Lobby Nomade (former Church of Santa Caterina), Via Borgovico 33, Como
- Gente di Confine: Chiostro di Sant’Abbondio (Università dell’Insubria), Via Regina Teodolinda 37, Como
- Ico Parisi and Giuliano Collina: Shared Art: Archivio Design Ico Parisi, Via Diaz 11, Como
- Atto Puro: Conservatorio di Como, Via Luigi Cadorna 4, Como
- After Evidence: Accademia di Como Aldo Galli / IED, Via Francesco Petrarca 9, Como
- Oltre al Vedere & Unstable Borders: Politecnico di Milano – Lecco Campus, Via Gaetano Previati 1/c, Lecco
