Solidified – From matter to form | Milan Design Week 2026

May 7, 2026
DESIGN, FAIRS

In a previous article, I wrote about how we approached Milan Design Week differently this year by setting priorities and limiting ourselves to exhibitions we really didn’t want to miss. And as said, we will have missed quite a few, including most of the ones at Isola, where we spend almost a day every year. This year I included exhibitions showing more Collectible design such as Dimore, like every year and went back to Nilufar. Some exhibitions you had to book a time schedule for, which took way more time than expected and interrupted the flow we were in some days.

We did managed to visit Solidified, organised by David Heldt (SOLIDIFIED) and Sanne Kaal (FINISHED FORMS), the second edition was presented as a collective exhibition bringing together 27 international participants and focused on handmade pieces and material driven work. Different objects and materials were shown together in one space. Each piece kept its own character, while the way they were placed next to each other created a natural flow through the exhibition.

SOLIDIFIED

It was good to be a bit out of the buzz, the queues and just enjoy beautiful pieces. It reminded me of previous editions of the Salone, when we still went to Lambrata and last years Good Selection which I really enjoyed. SOLIDIFIED is an initiative of Connecting the Dots (Amsterdam) lead by David Heldt who knows the Salone from the inside out like no other, in addition to having lived in Milan for 12 years, David has been organizing exhibitions such as Tuttobene and Design Language every year since 2006 and edited the magazine ‘Connecting the Dots in Milan’ for ten years. In 2020 he co-founded the design-route GLUE amsterdam connected by design.

Organising Curator Sanne Kaal is a Dutch designer and curator working at the intersection of functional design and art. With a background in product design, her practice is rooted in material research and craftsmanship, primarily through ceramics. Her work often takes modular form, allowing for subtle variations and an evolving relationship between form, colour, and use. As a curator, she organises exhibitions in which designers, artists and their work are brought together. She focuses on the dialogue between functional design and art, with attention to material, colour, and form. For her, curating is a way of creating context and inviting visitors to experience the work as it is intended within a shared framework in which the strength of different designers and artists comes together.

Also worth mentioning SOLIDIFIED was presented as an independent initiative, without the involvement of sponsors or larger institutional partners, keeping the focus on the work and the collective presentation!

A Personal note and an article worth reading

Coming back from Milan there was a lot of negativity online. I am a positive and optimistic person and I found it difficult to deal with so much complaining and bitterness seen online afterwards. I almost started to doubt my happy feelings and my own experience. Critics came from far away and from people I had never seen talking about Milan in the first place. From people who maybe visited once or twice in the last decade.

I was therefore very happy to read the article by my friend Elisabetta, in which she described exactly how I felt: Milan on the Ground vs. Milan on the Feed Same week, two completely different tastes.Just like her, after many years of coming to Milan, I know how to move around and stay with myself, pick up what I truly love myself and am happy to ignore what I find not worth my time, as I know why I come to Milan year after year and will be coming next year again!

Eclipse Transcience Mirror by Lex Pott & David Derksen for Transnatural

Large Circle Transcience Mirror by Lex Pott & David Derksen for Transnatural / 2Adrian Side table by Inge Simonis / Stacked candle holder by Nienke Sikkema presented by Just Haasnoot / Silhouette candle holder Thomas Schoonhoven Studio

COLOM side bench by Studio Cuno / Breathing Light by A+N Studio

This article is part of The Collectible Edit

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