Stefano Boeri on his plans for the Triennale Design Museum and transforming the institution into a ‘major cultural hub’
We talk to Triennale president Stefano Boeri on his plans for the Milanese institution, including the Triennale Design Museum and the development of a new cultural hub

As he celebrates his first year as president of the Triennale di Milano, the art and design institution in the Parco Sempione, Italian architect Stefano Boeri talks about his plans to turn it into a major cultural hub. Phase one, the Triennale Design Museum and a blockbuster exhibition.
Wallpaper*: Tell us about the new Triennale Design Museum.
Stefano Boeri: The Triennale already has a permanent collection of 1600 pieces of iconic Italian design, such as the Lettera 22 typewriter by Marcello Nizzoli for Olivetti, the Moka coffee pot by Renato Bialetti and Gio Ponti’s Superleggera chair. We are working with Joseph Grima, creative director of Design Academy Eindhoven, and a board consisting of nine of Italy’s leading design figures, to build the Triennale Design Museum collection further.
Gio Ponti’s ‘Superleggera’ chair is part of the Triennale Design Museum permanent collection
We are contacting contemporary manufacturers and makers to stockpile new pieces and collaborating with the Fondazione ADI which safeguards the 650 designs that have won the Compasso d'Oro award.’ (The prestigious prize for industrial design was founded in Italy in 1954). We will then create an exhibition programme that allows visitors to enjoy new forms of storytelling through these pieces.
W*: Where will the Triennale Design Museum be?
SB: As the collection expands, we will need more room, so we are looking at either developing an underground space within the Palazzo dell’Arte, (where the Triennale is housed) or creating a new site elsewhere. We will announce an international competition for its design based on our decision, along with a teaser of the new museum, in 2019.
W*: Triennale Design Museum aside, what will become of the other spaces within the institution?
SB: The whole site, which is to say, the 800-seat Teatro dell’Arte (dedicated to dance and performing arts), the restaurant, the additional exhibition areas and the gardens within Parco Sempione, will all be reinvigorated and well curated.
W*: What is your long-term ambition for the institution?
SB: The Triennale was designed as a cultural hub and it needs to go back to being one. In recent years, it has become too commercially oriented. Too many exhibitions have been hosted by paying sponsors; its spaces were increasingly rented out for commercial activity alone. That was a mistake. There is no other institution quite like the Triennale and we have to change direction. Sponsors will be welcome if they support our agenda, not their own. One day, I would like to be able to compare us to The Barbican in London or the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
The Triennale in Milan is in Parco Sempione, where Giorgio De Chirico’s 1973 La Fontana dei Bagni Misteriosi is displayed
W*: Tell us about the exhibition programme
SB: We will have around six shows a year devoted to architecture, design, fashion, the visual arts, new media and photography and these will last for a few months. The first, ‘Broken Nature’, will underline the concept of restorative design, highlighting 27 projects that consider our fragile relationship with the environment. It will provide a clear outline of what our mission is as an internationally relevant cultural institution and is curated by Paola Antonelli, (senior curator of architecture and design at New York Museum of Modern Art).
In 2020, Hans Ulrich Obrist will curate a retrospective on Enzo Mari, one of the most intellectually provocative artists of the 20th century, and we are building ties with other ‘studio museums’ in Milan. In the same way that the studios of the late Achille Castiglioni and Vico Magistretti are open by appointment, we are looking to open the workspace of the late Milanese architects BBPR.
But we must look beyond nostalgia and the memory of the past and focus on young talents too. 2020 will see the first retrospective of the Danish architect Bjarke Ingels who opened his studio BIG in 2005. We hope this sequence of shows will be long-lasting, impactful and set the agenda for the Triennale of the future.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
Triennale
Viale Emilio Alemagna, 6
20121 Milano
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Emma O'Kelly is a freelance journalist and author based in London. Her books include Sauna: The Power of Deep Heat and she is currently working on a UK guide to wild saunas, due to be published in 2025.
-
A first look inside Archives of Us, a secret café hidden in Downtown LA
Archives of Us is a contemporary café opening in Downtown LA boasting crisp interiors by Studio/ JIALUN XIONG who crafted a caffeinated sanctuary away from the city rush
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Teresa Pągowska's dreamy interpretations of the female form are in London for the first time
‘Shadow Self’ in Thaddaeus Ropac’s 18th-century townhouse gallery in London, presents the first UK solo exhibition of Pągowska’s work
By Sofia Hallström Published
-
We preview Expo 2025 Osaka: what to expect and who will be there
Expo 2025 Osaka prepares to throw open its doors in April; we preview the world festival, its developments and highlights
By Danielle Demetriou Published
-
Hermès’ new Florence store is a haven of sophisticated design
The Renaissance building on Via degli Strozzi boasts interiors by architect Denis Montel of RDAI, bespoke furniture pieces and an expansive collection of artwork
By Nick Vinson Published
-
Ceramics brand Mutina stages a poetic tribute to everyday objects
Design meets art as a new Mutina exhibition in Italy reframes the beauty of domestic stillness, juxtaposing ceramics, sculpture, paintings and photography
By Laura May Todd Published
-
Rooms with a view: a new book celebrates the Italian approach to interior design
Laura May Todd's survey of Italian interiors is the perfect antidote to January gloom, taking a look inside 50 distinctive Italian homes
By Ali Morris Published
-
Vincent Van Duysen reimagines a historic palazzo for Molteni&C in Milan
Molteni&C teases images of Palazzo Molteni, a sprawling and immersive new design destination in Milan, ahead of its official opening in April
By Ali Morris Published
-
New exhibition, ‘Architecture for Dogs' celebrates the human-canine bond
As a showcase of designs for dogs opens in Milan, we find out why inviting our four-legged friends into exhibitions benefits everybody.
By Ali Morris Published
-
The future of Salone del Mobile: new report quantifies impact of the world's biggest furniture fair
For the first time, Salone del Mobile reports on its size and impact. ‘Milan Design (Eco) System’ puts Salone into numbers, allowing its future and challenges to be addressed
By Cristina Kiran Piotti Published
-
Design Dynasties: the powerhouse families of Italian furnishing
We profile the powerhouse families of Italian furnishing, uncovering the secrets of their legacies and stamina
By Laura May Todd Published
-
Gather round: ‘Inequalities’ symposium at the Triennale Milano
Ahead of the 24th International exhibition at the Triennale Milano next year, 26 leading thinkers, curators and activists unpicked the theme ‘Inequalities’
By Will Jennings Published