Milan Design Week 2025: step inside this Brera Design Apartment before the crowds

Although everyone dreads the crowds and sore feet of Milan Design Week, the palazzos and apartments that open their doors as showcases during the annual furniture fair are well worth the crush and the steps. The Brera Design Apartment, designed by Zanellato/Bortotto studio and seen here, has already opened, by appointment, ahead of Milan Design Week 2025, on the third floor of an early 1900s building set in Brera's chic via Palermo.

Titling the project ‘Orizzonti’ (meaning horizons), following this year's Fuorisalone theme of ‘Connected Worlds’, the design studio has taken its signature approach of celebrating quality craftsmanship, with a nod to memories. With brands Artecasa, Botteganove and Bolzan (specialists in kitchens and bathrooms, ceramic mosaics, and beds, respectively) as main partners, studio founders Giorgia Zanellato and Daniele Bortotto have created a personal narrative across five custom-designed rooms.

Inisde Brera Design Apartment by Zanellato/Bortotto studio

The first room is named ‘Fields’, and honours Italian photographer Luigi Ghirri and his love for the Emilia Romagna region, whose rural summer landscapes are reflected in the kitchen by Alpes Inox, which is covered in refractory ceramic surfaces by Chiara Andreatti for Botteganove.

From here, inspiration quickly turns to the Venetian lagoon: 'Venice is a reference in our work, it is our city, and it is a place of unique light, shade, and colour,' says Zanellato. The dining room, titled ‘Barene’ after the islands of the lagoon, is an homage to the intricate play of water, and features the designers’ eponymous ceramic tiles for Botteganove – full of metallic lustre – covering one wall.

The space also takes inspiration from Venice’s San Giorgio Maggiore Marina, as depicted in the paintings of Virgilio Guidi. 'He used large brush strokes, and we decided to recreate this effect with [paint company] Sikkens' enamels,' Zanellato explains.

On a wall, a large tapestry, created by Saba Italia using the Sardinian 'pibiones' technique with its distinctive raised texture, features traditional sail patterns, while Ethimo's travertine table and teak chairs, with armrests made using technical rope, sit in the centre of the room, illuminated by Davide Groppi's ‘Moon’ lamp.

In a corner is the new ‘Clay’ armchair by Moroso: 'With [the brand], we began researching nuances and decided to play with colours, placing a ceramic component on the back,' Zanellato says. '[It offers] a shift in horizons and perspectives, with an invitation to look at the object from behind.'

In the living room, named ‘Caigo’ (Venetian dialect for fog), a wooden shelf made by Lunardelli Venezia displays contemporary artists' works and sculptures. 'It’s perfect for the environment, camouflaging the [painted] horizon line, as happens in the haze.' Two yellowish cushions add a poetic touch to Saba Italia's ‘Vela’ sofas, which are upholstered in a Fishbacher 1819 woollen cloth.

Another subtle Venetian tribute is the onyx coffee table by Del Savio 1910, created using an exclusive technique: 'It is inspired by the typical marbling papers of Venice. Here, marble imitates paper, which imitates marble,' Zanellato laughs.

On the table are fired enamel plates in copper, the result of Zanellato and Bortotto's collaboration with Moroso: 'Not everyone knows this technique, Gio Ponti used it a lot together with Paolo De Poli,' reveals Zanellato.

The bedroom, titled ‘Desert’, is inspired by Namibia, with burnished colours such as in the fitted carpet by Radici and a wooden rug by CC-Tapis: 'From a technical and personal point of view, it was the most difficult room to make, because it is inspired by a trip I took years ago, and thus it is linked precisely to the memories of those experiences,' Bortotto says. 'Technically, there were several experiments, including the particular shade of the wood panelling by Fenix and all the work on the surfaces made by Bolzan for the wooden and wrought-iron bed.'

Meanwhile, the bathroom, themed ‘Volcan’, is an homage to Mount Etna's black landscape.

Personal objects belonging to Zanellato and Bortotto are scattered throughout the apartment: 'This small green ceramic on the bathroom sink I gave to Daniele from a trip to Japan, while that enamelled copper plate by De Poli was found by him at a flea market,' Zanellato says. Valentina Sommariva's photographs and Giuditta Vendrame's broken-down planispheres are also personal touches.

The designers chose other artworks in collaboration with Nicola Ricciardi, director of Miart, while some collectors' pieces, such as Ingo Maurer's lamps, come from Galleria Luisa delle Piane.

'We aimed to create [an apartment] that embodied our experiences,' Bortotto says. 'We hope that the guests who visit will be able to contribute to this story. You will not come to this place for a quick visit, but to experience and interpret the space and its emotions.'

The Brera Design Apartment, Zanellato explains, will remain on display until the end of May 2025, and then will be transformed 'to become a space for exhibitions, meetings and displays for the companies and people involved. The most important thing is that it will continue to live.'

Open already by appointment, koalendar.com/e/orizzonti. During Design Week, open by invitation and to press only. Open by appointment to the public thereafter

zanellatobortotto.com