Renaissance of the Real, a collaboration between USM, Snøhetta and Annabelle Schneider, uses structure, sound and scent to create a pavilion for Milan Design Week
Photography courtesy of USM
At this year’s Milan Design Week, a new installation at the Fondazione Luigi Rovati in Corso Venezia, turns to a slower way of experiencing space. Titled Renaissance of the Real, the project is a collaboration between USM Modular Furniture, Snøhetta and Swiss-born, New York–based artist Annabelle Schneider. It is conceived as a pavilion structured through sound, light and scent to recalibrate attention within the grounds of Fondazione Luigi Rovati during Milan Design Week 2026.
The installation is built around USM’s beloved Haller modular system. With its steel grid, adaptability and precision, it typically occupies homes, offices and other spaces around the world. Here, however, the trio incorporated the system to create a type of architectural framework for the pavilion.
Within this design, a fabric surface hangs in place and gently expands and shrinks almost like it’s breathing. The mix of hard and soft, flexible material impacts how the space feels and creates different areas that change gradually.
Photography courtesy of USM
The project continues Schneider’s exploration of “immersive environments”, but moves it into a more explicitly architectural register. For the first time, the installation unfolds across two levels, introducing a vertical sequence that guides visitors from the surrounding garden into increasingly enclosed spaces. At its centre, a small atrium marked by a pink gradient acts as a point of convergence within the route.
Snøhetta’s contribution is most evident in the way the space is arranged. Instead of one single structure, the pavilion is set up as a sequence of open and enclosed areas visitors can move through. The result feels somewhere between outside and inside, public and private, creating a unique, cocooned space.
Inside, the space is defined by soft sound, gentle lighting and textured surfaces that invite touch. Designed to change the atmosphere and help people slow down, these details create a calm and gentle environment far way from the design week buzz.
At intervals throughout the week, the space will also host vinyl listening sessions by audio engineer Devon Turnbull, whose analogue sound systems reinforce the installation’s emphasis on physical listening and presence.
While many design week projects focus on being new or eye-catching, Renaissance of the Real takes a different stance. Instead of something to just look at, the pavilion is meant to be entered and experienced over time, influenced by how people move through it and pay attention.
In doing so, the installation reflects a broader interest shared by its collaborators: how architecture and design might respond to increasing digital saturation by returning to the basics of material, structure and sensory awareness.
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