Inside Palazzo Molteni, a new home for design in Milan
Last year was a big one for Molteni & C, with the brand celebrating its 90th anniversary with the launch of Molteni Mondo – a coffee table book that, according to Giulia Molteni, head of marketing and communication, and the granddaughter of founders Angelo and Giuseppina Molteni, offered ‘an unprecedented and authoritative look at the company’s present, past and future’. As we move into 2025, though, we are already seeing some of those exciting plans for the brand’s future come to fruition. Namely, the opening of Palazzo Molteni.
Much like the star-studded book, this urban pavilion offers a chance for design fans to step inside the world of Molteni & C. Located at 9 Via Manzoni, just a stone’s throw from Piazza della Scala, the pavilion sits at the very heart of Milan, with the building’s Liberty and neoclassical features blending beautifully with the typically streamlined aesthetic of Molteni & C’s creative director Vincent Van Duysen, whose recent furniture pieces for the brand include the likes of the ‘Augusto’ and ‘Lucio’ sofas and the lacquered ‘Mateo’ table.
Van Duysen envisaged the palazzo as the stylish home of an imaginary art and design collector, with seven levels and more than 3,000 square metres of floorspace to occupy with historic and contemporary gems. More than just a showroom, Palazzo Molteni is intended as an experimental space – somewhere not simply to see the latest launches, but also to explore design and its cultural dialogue with the city more widely. This is a destination.
We are yet to discover what Molteni & C is planning for Milan design week (7-13 April), but as well as the excitement of the main Salone del Mobile fair, we expect this new venue to be at the centre of the action. molteni.it