From 14 to 21 September, the seventh edition brings exhibitions, installations, and a widespread journey through art, design, and architecture to Como
From 14 to 21 September 2025, Lake Como Design Festival 2025 returns to celebrate the dialogue between design, art, and architecture in the historical and natural settings of Como. The seventh edition, titled Fragments, explores fragmentation as a tool for rebirth and regeneration, addressing themes of memory, identity, and reconstruction.
The heart of Lake Como Design Festival 2025 will be Villa del Grumello and the evocative Chilometro della Conoscenza, where installations and curated exhibitions will narrate the intersections between past and contemporary design.
Fragments of Memory at Villa del Grumello
The collective exhibition Fragments of Memory interprets the fragment as a narrative and creative element capable of connecting different eras and languages. Highlights include:
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Enzo Cucchi with evocative sculptures and wall works;
- DEDAR with Weaving Anni Albers, a project inspired by the visionary legacy of the German textile artist;
- Claudia Moreira Salles, celebrated by ETEL with a retrospective on Brazilian modernism;
- Amini with rugs inspired by Bruno Munari;
- Archivio Mantero, WonderGlass, Eredi Marelli, and other icons of Italian and international design.
The exhibition offers a journey through materials, textures, and visual narratives that evoke the strength of memory and the creative potential of fragments.
Aldo Rossi: architecture as fragments
The former church of San Pietro in Atrio hosts Aldo Rossi. Architecture for Fragments, curated by Chiara Spangaro in collaboration with the Fondazione Aldo Rossi. Architectural drawings, texts, and documents reveal the relationship between fragments and design in the work of Aldo Rossi, from the Monument to the Partisans in Segrate to his reconstruction projects in Berlin.
As part of this tribute, the documentary Aldo Rossi design, directed by Francesca Molteni and Mattia Colombo, will be screened on 14 September at the Chamber of Commerce of Como-Lecco.
Ico Parisi and the new Ico Parisi Design Archive
During Lake Como Design Festival 2025, the Ico Parisi Design Archive inaugurates its new headquarters in via Diaz 11. The exhibition Crolli edificanti – Tavole di provocazione presents large-format paintings created by Ico Parisi in the 1970s and 1980s, shown for the first time in Como. The archive also opens to the public its extensive collection of documents, art, and design works.
Contemporary Design Selection: the evocative power of fragments
Curated by Giovanna Massoni, the Contemporary Design Selection 2025 unfolds along the Chilometro della Conoscenza, transforming historic villas and parks into an open-air gallery. The open call 2025 gathered projects from Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia, exploring fragility, regeneration, and memory.
Among the selected names: Agglomerati x Sho Ota, Omniaworks x Payam Askari, Studio Lilium, Spinzi, ZPSTUDIO, and many more. Each project interprets the fragment as a chance for rebirth, combining reclaimed materials, ancestral techniques, and cultural narratives.
A festival woven into the territory
Lake Como Design Festival 2025 confirms its role as a cultural platform where design, history, and landscape converge. Alongside the main exhibitions, the program includes Studio Visit, with local studios and archives open to the public, and guided tours of the Rationalist architecture of Como.
