Tortona rocks 2026

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With eleven editions under its belt, Tortona Rocks is well established as one of the epicentres of Design Week: an international platform where installations, research, and new creative visions redefine the Fuorisalone experience.

The 2026 edition, Design to Change Everything, explores design as a transformative force capable of reinterpreting and reshaping the present. It offers an invitation to view the design process as a ‘rebellious’ experience that incorporates creativity, technology, and new, contemporary visions.

Amid immersive environments and multidisciplinary interaction, Tortona Rocks reflects the intersection between industry, culture and experimentation, prompting new perspectives on the role of design in our time.

‘No matter what, design never stops.
Not because the world is moving in the right direction.
Not because crises are easily solved.
Not because the future is legible.
We design because it is impossible not to.’

Tortona Rocks launches Design to Change Everything, its eleventh edition, embracing design as an active and structural force in society—even before its formal expression or disciplinary interpretation.

In the current context, marred by social tensions, political conflicts, economic inequalities, and deep collective uncertainties, Design to Change Everything emerges as a purposeful act. While reality appears fragmented and clouded, the project responds with transformational energy. It does not accept inertia, nor does it adapt passively; it actively proposes alternatives and suggests possibilities by introducing new points of view.

Tortona Rocks #11 brings together projects that perceive design as both a critical and operational tool. It is not about isolated objects, but rather processes, research, and systems capable of concretely affecting current conditions. In this sense, change is not a slogan—it is a responsibility and a choice. It is the decision to design the world not to adapt to what it is, but to contribute to what it can become.

HIGHLIGHTS
Soundsorial Design: IQOS continues its participation this year with ever-new perspectives, such as its collaboration with Devialet
Fòco is the final chapter of the interior design tetralogy by Archiproducts Milano created by Studio Pepe
The Living Notes concept transforms interior spaces into a design landscape made of spatial notes and suggestions
McDonald’s presents POOL Ti sblocco un ricordo (I'll unlock a memory for you) is an immersive exhibition curated by Nicolas Ballario that presents a dialogue between contemporary art, generational memory and pop culture.
Swatch AI-DADA arrives at Milan Design Week with a new way to conceptualise the watch: as a dialogue between human creativity and artificial intelligence.
Italdesign, founded by Giorgetto Giugiaro, brings to the Fuorisalone its vision for the Essere Progetto: an integrated and vertical approach that spans diverse sectors, from automotive to product design, from aerospace to robotics.
CANDYSLAB presents Wild Experience, an immersive installation that showcases the universe of Italian Pop Design between technology, colour and experimentation with different materials.
All’Origine Boutique, hosted by Paola Navone at Otto Studio, presents a reflection on the history and memory of objects.
An aesthetic manifesto: REBEL, the new collection by Hans Boodt Mannequins, redefines the role of the mannequin from a static display to a presence packed with expressive potential.
In Designed by Who? Curated by uau studio, the Fuorisalone is transformed into an open lab where design becomes a collaborative process.
Moments of Joy by Maisons du Monde invites visitors to explore the home as the starting point for an emotional journey.
And more