Abode Abroad
In her final column for DNN, Courtney Porter surveys the five forces reshaping design right now: what the fragmenting art fair landscape means for how visual culture gets staged; why Gen Z can smell AI slop from a mile away; how this year’s Oscar-nominated films are writing the brief for tomorrow’s interiors; what hotel designers can steal from yachts and private clubs; and whether the 21st century already has a defining aesthetic — even if no one has named it yet.
The opening of SUNPAN’s Vietnam office establishes the company’s Asia headquarters. Featured here: the Ishiko Coffee Tables that are produced by SUNPAN’s manufacturing partners in Vietnam.
mbiente 2026 reveals five defining trends shaping the future of home and product design, from portable warmth and universal kitchen tools to playful forms and woven craft traditions. The fair frames design as a form of care, responding to climate pressure, shifting domestic habits and the growing demand for objects that support everyday well-being.
The exhibition is conceived as a curated environment in which individual works retain their autonomy while contributing to a broader spatial composition shaped by texture, tactility and placement. Participants confirmed to date represent Belgium, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Germany and the Netherlands, with additional exhibitors to be announced ahead of the opening. A limited number of exhibition spaces remain available.
Salone del Mobile.Milano 2026 positions itself as a strategic global platform for design, culture and industry, with more than 1,900 exhibitors from 32 countries and a fully sold-out fairground. The 64th edition strengthens its international reach while introducing new curatorial and exhibition formats, including Salone Raritas, the immersive installation Aurea, an Architectural Fiction, and a redesigned wayfinding system aimed at improving accessibility and visitor experience. The return of EuroCucina with FTK – Technology For the Kitchen and the International Bathroom Exhibition reaffirms the fair’s role as the leading reference point for innovation in domestic and professional interiors.
The edition also marks a pivotal step toward the launch of Salone Contract in 2027, a long-term project developed with OMA under the direction of Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten to address the evolving contract and hospitality sectors. Sustainability remains a measurable priority, supported by renewed ISO 20121 certification and a focus on circular design practices across materials and supply chains. Together, these initiatives frame Salone 2026 as both a marketplace and a cultural infrastructure, reinforcing Milan’s status as the capital of contemporary design and a driver of global exchange.
New initiatives spotlight global partnerships and cross-disciplinary dialogue under the 2026 theme, Common Ground
“ETRO Residences Phuket” introduces a new vision of branded living shaped by nature. With the unveiling of its interior design, the project offers a first look into ETRO’s debut residential development in Southeast Asia.
Among this year’s major highlights, the special project by MOOOI which will present a large immersive installation by Marcel Wanders, in collaboration with Superstudio at its historic location in the Tortona Design District. In parallel, at Superstudio Maxi, Giulio Cappellini signs a new visionary installation that broadens the perspective on the cities of the future.
Marianne Tiegen Interiors has reimagined Château La Banquière, an 18th-century estate set amid vineyards and centuries-old oaks near Montpellier, France, into a hospitality destination where architecture, landscape, and textiles come together in a quiet, contemporary expression of sustainable luxury.
International Design announces its official launch this Wednesday, December 3, 2025, at 6 PM CET for Design Miami, during Art Basel week. Built as a refined digital and physical ecosystem, the platform introduces a new benchmark in the way collectible design and contemporary art are discovered, acquired, and experienced.