IAMMI and Materia Studio reinterpret the wunderkammer to stir ‘SENSES’ in Milan

Milan-based creative practice IAMMI and interior design firm Materia Studio are set to unveil their first solo exhibition, SENSES, during Milan Design Week 2025. Co-curated by the two Italian studios, SENSES is designed as a multi-sensory installation to sit within the MelzoDodici auditorium, a dynamic hub in the heart of the Porta Venezia Design District, from April 7 – 13, 2025.

IAMMI, founded by Portuguese designer Nicolau dos Santos and French-Italian art director Stephanie Blanchard, is known for exploring the dynamic interplay between classic and contemporary design, and developing objects that evoke emotions and inspire introspection. Their inspirations for product design, too, span across a variety of subjects such as cliff and rock shapes, the shape of a brick, the representation of the female body in Greek art and architecture, the common image of monsters hidden behind closet doors, classical features, animated characters and more.

Materia Studio, on the other hand, was founded by Davide Madaschi and Stefano Manzini. The studio integrates a spatial element in their interior design concepts, ensuring they can evoke varied emotions. Akin to IAMMI, the studio also strays away from following fleeting trends and emphasises timelessness with its designs.

For their showcase during the design fair in Milan, Italy, the two studios combine their common inclination for curating dynamic and multisensorial spaces and objects. SENSES promises an immersive experience, turning visitors into protagonists of novel narratives and heightening their senses by directing them on a curious path designed to expand the visitors’ perceptual boundaries. This is done by reinterpreting the concept of the wunderkammer, German for ‘cabinet of curiosities’, within the MelzoDodici auditorium.

Wunderkammer is a room that often hosts a variety of unusual, non-categorical and fascinating objects. Tracing its origin back to 16th-century Germany, the term wunderkammer was originally designated for private spaces or collections that hosted rare and exotic artefacts such as taxidermy objects, fossils, shells, scientific instruments, historical relics and culturally relevant totems. These spaces, curated to incite intellectual curiosity, have found a way to inspire the development of modern museums and, more popularly, the Room of Requirement in the Harry Potter series.

The reinterpretation of the wunderkammer by IAMMI and Materia Studio at the design festival comprises the placement of the former’s furnishings along a curated path. Further, an interplay of light and shadow will direct the path for visitors while illuminating the iconic designs set up at intervals. This format of periodic illumination will render an element of rhythmic irregularity in the space, beckoning the visitors to move forward with a curiosity for the next revelation. To enhance the space sensorially, the Italian designers have conceptualised olfactory insertions, tactile contrasts and a choreographed soundscape.

“Our sight is captivated by pieces strategically placed along the path, while, as the journey unfolds, our sense is awakened by unpredictable aromas and touch ignited through the discovery of interactive surfaces and unusual textures. Our hearing is submerged in the sound design by ISLA (Adriano Trentacosti, multi-instrumentalist and Art Director for Toiletpaper magazine), whose compositions contribute to the sensory contamination; meanwhile, the visual identity, curated by Post Action, plays with the icons of IAMMI's designs, bringing them to life with genuine graphic symbols,” the studios reveal in the official press release.

Among the objects by IAMMI that will remain on display at SENSES is Brrrick (2025), a flexible seating design inspired by the shape of a brick and extruded to form a twining and cushiony piece. The Frankenstein (2024) series, on the other hand, comprises a collection of objects made using reclaimed foam and finished with leather patchwork. IAMMI’s Friendly Monster Cabinet (2023) is a pink, animated object that is a friendlier version of monsters imagined to be hiding inside closets. The studio’s CLOUD sofas (2023), on the other hand, are monikered after the entities that inspire their design. Just like clouds, the sofa design, covered in semi-bouclé fabric, evokes the ethereality, floatiness and softness of clouds.

Further, Heidi (2025) bag is a contemporary reinterpretation of a cowbell, and Un Pesce Fuor D’Acqua (2025) pouf, covered in lamb leather, is a sculptural piece resonant of animal bodies. The Tofu (2025) seat collection, inspired by the shape of rocks, is made of upcycled foam and polyurethane, and Toast (2025) is a travertine coffee table resembling the mien of a toasted bread. Lastly, the Drop (2025) collection includes polycarbonate side tables mimicking the “almost imperceptible movement of a droplet falling onto a water surface”.

Although bearing the imprints of various inspirations, a recurring aspect within the design exhibition is upcycling. While most objects to be displayed at the design event are crafted from reclaimed materials or remnants from discontinued production processes, the space, construed by Materia Studio, also bears the markers of sustainability. The concrete steps surrounding the auditorium will be covered in Re Mat’s black Eco Foam, a recycled material made from post-consumer polyurethane foam.

The tactile fluctuations curated within SENSES’s wunderkammer seek to challenge the boundary between waste and value. Meanwhile, the exhibition’s eccentric curation promises to reveal various hidden narratives while simultaneously “giving life to an overwhelming synaesthetic experience”, revealing the power of spaces and design in stimulating striking responses and visceral imaginations.

‘SENSES’ will remain on view from April 8 – 13, 2025, at MelzoDodici auditorium in Via Melzo, 12, 20129 Milan, Italy.

Keep up with STIR's coverage of Milan Design Week 2025, where we spotlight the most compelling exhibitions, presentations and installations from top studios, designers and brands. Dive into the highlights of Euroluce 2025 and explore all the design districts—Fuorisalone, 5Vie, Brera, Isola, Durini and beyond—alongside the faceted programme of Salone del Mobile.Milano this year.