The installations, objects, and moments everyone’s talking about at Milan Design Week; birdhouses take flight as design objects; and Diane Keaton’s curated world is for sale. All that and more in this week’s Five on Friday.
Everything you’re missing at Salone del Mobile 2026
“Transformism,” an interactive installation by artist Harry Nuriev for Clive Christian Perfume within Museo Bagatti Valsecchi
Couldn’t make it to Salone this year? Neither could I, but HD editor extraordinaire Stephanie Chen was on the ground recording everything that caught her eye. Live updates from Wallpaper were also especially helpful, delivering up-to-the-minute details on the installations and designs everyone was talking about. Highlights from Milan Design Week include domestic vignettes of wood and steel from Casa NM3, Laila Gohar’s vegetable carousel, an oversized chessboard designed by Crosby Studios’ Harry Nuriev, and 6:AM’s luminous sequence of cubic lamps forming a hypnotic wall.
Yinka Ilori’s “Chasing the Sun” installation also proved magnetic and optimistic as both a showcase and discussion platform radiating joy complementary to his collaboration with Veuve Clicquot. Check out the collection, which includes gift boxes, a reimagined champagne bucket, and sculptural portable drinking vessels. Kelly Wearstler’s line for H&M Home also debuted on a multisensory set designed by Studio Boum, showcasing a 13-piece modular furniture series that looks quite comfy indeed. Another landmark launch was led by skincare brand Aesop, which introduced its first table lamp in a sprawling installation designed by March Studios using circular construction techniques. Dubbed “The Factory of Light,” the three lamps were showcased inside a 15th-century church upon tables made from 16,000 Aesop glass fragrance bottles.
Have an extra glass of wine at Bar Basso on my behalf, Steph!
Diane Keaton’s archive goes to auction
View this post on Instagram
Late movie star Diane Keaton is remembered as much for her acting as she is for her art and fashion taste. Now, part of her well-curated legacy could be yours thanks to Bonhams. The auction house is partnering with the Fine Art Group on four different sales across New York and Los Angeles this June. “Diane Keaton: The Architecture of an Icon” will offer handpicked fine art, décor, fashion, and personal objects for bidding beginning on June 8th in New York, where more than 50 lots will be up for auction. Fashionable standouts include a Ralph Lauren polka dot tie (unclear if it’s the same one from “Annie Hall”), a sequined Gucci suit, and a two-piece Ralph Lauren houndstooth suit worn to the Academy Awards in 2020. Keaton’s covetable art collection also includes David Wojnarowicz’s “Buffaloes” (gasp!) as well as Western landscapes by Maynard Dixon and Ed Mell. Anybody have a spare $25,000 I can borrow?
Introducing the designer birdhouse
View this post on Instagram
Need a pick-me-up this week? Consider the emergence of birdhouses as an emerging platform for architectural expression. The New York Times reports on the growing number of exhibitions in the U.S. and Europe focused on new innovations in the medium. The exhibit “Home Sweet Home” has traveled from Germany to Belgium since 2024, expanding its showcase of designs more akin to sculpture than housing. “Architects for the Birds” was also featured for exhibition and auction at Christie’s in London last year, displaying artful work from nine architects including Sou Fujimoto and Frida Escobedo. Designs from a similar exhibition, “Dwellings” at the South London Gallery, now serve as avian lodging in nearby Kensington through June 2027. I wonder if New York pigeons could ever learn to appreciate affordable housing….
The second life of abandoned retail
Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock
While office-to-resi conversions continue to advance at a crawl, a new housing model manifests across the promising floor plans of vacant retail. In Cleveland, for example, the abandoned May Company department store underwent conversion into housing in 2020, and ultimately contributed to a 12-percent population increase in the city’s downtown. In a rental market dominated by Gen Z and empty nesters, the building stands out with perks like abundant parking, a central courtyard, fitness center, community room, and even a rooftop patio. Certain spacious apartments even boast patios that open to an outdoor atrium. Such historic landmarks not only serve as an aesthetic departure from the turnkey uniformity of many new-builds, but yield even greater potential for flexibility and conversion than offices, The Wall Street Journal reports. A former Sears in Austin even possessed enough versatility in its original design to become a new health center for low-income residents. Maybe there’s hope for your childhood shopping mall after all!
There’s still time to register for HD Expo!
HD Expo 2026 is 11 days away! If you’ve been putting off registration, there is still time to sign up and join us May 5-7th at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The Women in Design Awards Breakfast on Tuesday, May 5th (meet the honorees here!) kicks off an exciting week that also includes not-to-be-missed signature programs like the HD | ISHP Owners Roundtable and, of course, the HD Awards ceremony. Elite sessions, panels, and micro-gatherings across the show floor also promise to enrich three days of discourse, debuts, and celebration. Register today!