ZANOTTA: BETWEEN ARCHIVAL LEGARY AND CONTEMPORARY EXPERIMENTATION

At Milan Design Week 2026, Zanotta reaffirmed its role as both provocateur and custodian of Italian design culture, unveiling a collection that moves effortlessly between archival reverence and contemporary experimentation. Inside the newly redesigned flagship on Via Durini, reimagined by
Fabio Calvi and Paolo Brambilla of Studio Calvi Brambilla, warm coffee-toned interiors and graphic references to the iconic Quaderna pattern set the stage for a dialogue between past and future. The atmosphere feels less like a showroom and more like an immersive domestic landscape, where heritage pieces coexist with sculptural novelties in a carefully orchestrated rhythm.

The emotional centre of the presentation belongs to Carlo Mollino, whose visionary legacy now enters a new chapter through Zanotta’s exclusive licence to produce thirty of the architect’s projects. Among the most compelling introductions is the Vertebra table, presented for the first time in industrial production while remaining remarkably faithful to Mollino’s original vision. Its aerodynamic silhouette and structural daring encapsulate the architect’s obsession with movement, craftsmanship, and engineering precision. Alongside historic pieces such as the Arabesco CM table and the Gilda CM
armchair, the new addition reinforces Mollino’s enduring relevance within the language of contemporary collectible design.

The collaboration with Vincent Van Duysen evolves with a renewed sense of softness and architectural clarity. The Fedrigo modular sofa expands through curved and asymmetrical elements that encourage freer, more fluid configurations, while maintaining the Belgian designer’s restrained visual vocabulary. Equally refined is the new Campa dining collection, where solid wood structures meet leather and back-painted glass surfaces in compositions that balance tactility with formal rigour. Van Duysen’s approach remains rooted in material honesty, yet these new pieces introduce a more sensual dimension, expressed through rounded forms and subtle proportions.

Comfort also takes on a more sculptural identity in the latest evolution of the Pianoalto sofa by Palomba Serafini Associati. New sinuous modules soften the system’s geometry, creating islands of conviviality that interact naturally with space. This exploration of curved forms continues in Monica Armani’s Rondevù armchair, conceived as an enveloping presence equally suited to residential interiors and hospitality settings. Its Vis-à-Vis configuration transforms seating into an invitation to conversation, while the Alfarè coffee tables, cast in painted concrete with delicately grooved surfaces, introduce a monolithic, almost architectural materiality.

Several of the collection’s strongest moments emerge through first-time collaborations. The Binata chair by Brogliato Traverso translates the rhythm of paired columns into a clean, graphic wooden structure that feels both rigorous and quietly expressive. Meanwhile, Studiopepe brings a sharper chromatic language to Zanotta with Slice Me Nice, a family of coffee tables where coloured edges become defining graphic gestures. The interplay between aluminium-finished Fenix laminate and saturated profiles gives the pieces a distinctly contemporary tension, poised between industrial precision and decorative
spontaneity.

The collection closes on a more intimate note, with pieces that privilege atmosphere and sensory depth. Simone Bonanni’s Nagori bed combines generous proportions with delicately suspended detailing, creating a quiet balance between solidity and lightness. Accessories further enrich the
narrative: Pierre Charpin’s Battito rug evokes the immediacy of pencil marks on paper, while the Ettaro cushions reinterpret agricultural landscapes through layered textures and graphic reliefs.