It was one of last year’s big hits and the destination that earned NoLo its rep as one of Milan’s coolest neighbourhoods – although there are those among the area’s cultural forerunners that cannot stand that acronym! The formula is practically perfect: among the spaces that have been abandoned to become urban relics, offered up to the Milanese public and their voracious appetite for events, here is an alternative, romantic and sure to be damned – as is the Milanese way – venue, how long can this “unproductive” beauty last?

Alcova functions as an “itinerant cultural institution”, a ghost or apparition that temporarily possesses uninhabitable spaces and offers patchy hospitality to various subjects. But curators will save the world! There’s a new location this year too: Alcova Sassetti in Isola. From panettone to cashmere, the production history alone is enough to merit a visit to these two spaces.

There is plenty to see in these often labyrinthine spaces: a rusty roof, peeling wall and weeds run riot are the perfect backdrop.
Do not miss: the Japanese kiosk from Nanban, a project founded in 2016 by three partners, with an installation entitled Japanese Stories, an account of Japan today, one object at a time and lightyears from any stereotypes. The selection of objects has been greatly enriched this year, especially with two new projects from the East meets West series. The first is a collaboration with artist Olimpia Zagnoli, a colourful new tenegui made in Japan using traditional techniques, and the second is a product somewhere between a sculpture and the functional object par excellence, created by Tsukasa Goto and his counterpart Marco Guazzini. Go and see what it’s all about! And of course, you’ll have to linger awhile in the Caffè Populaire from Italo-Belgian duo DWA who are based in Milan: a temporary bar to celebrate one of the oldest forms of socialising, food, while soothed by the beauty of finely crafted raw materials, in collaboration with Canadian lighting company Lambert&Fils.