For Milan Design Week, Il Piccolo presents two brands at Alcova which celebrate premium craftsmanship: EXTO and NODUS.
Of all the stunning events at Milan Design Week, Alcova has proven itself to be one of the most original and visionary platforms. For the 2025 edition, the curatorial project from Valentina Ciuffi and Joseph Grima is set among the enchanting spaces of Villa Bagatti Valsecchi in Varedo, hosting a selection of brands and designers which are interested in investigating new design languages.
© Courtesy Alcova
Among those present, EXTO and NODUS, two companies specialized in fine Italian craftsmanship, will showcase brand-new collections which provide a sophisticated, radical, and cultured take on contemporary furniture. In a room full of light and architectural remains, fine materials, sculptural forms, and graphic lines will interact with the space to offer a profound and personal idea of the home.
Il Piccolo: the showroom and design culture of an interior architecture project
The curation of this special appearance at Alcova comes courtesy Il Piccolo, the long-standing, Varedo-based company with a showroom in Milan. For years, Il Piccolo has set the standard for tailor-made interior design, blending craftsmanship with originality and a culture of design.
Much more than a mere store, Il Piccolo is a hub where designer collections and esteemed collaborations come to life. The brands EXTO, founded and developed in-house, and NODUS, a textile gallery specialized in contemporary hand-knotted carpets, are part of its productive and curatorial capacity.
Its participation in Milan Design Week is not simply an exposition, it is an extension of a design philosophy which permeates every centimeter of their spaces.
EXTO: sculptural objects meet radical geometries and poetic functionality
Within the V8 room of the villa, EXTO presents two new projects from international designers: “Green Cabinet” and “Green Side Table” by Kiki van Eijk and “Atrio”, the mirror by Giuseppe Arezzi.
Both designed in glossy lacquered wood, the cabinet and table set themselves apart with their sculpted volumes, geometric sides, and the expressive power which makes them akin to micro-architectures. Deep green, sharp-shaped, yet harmonious, van Eijk creates emotional objects whose presence we call feel within the space.
Meanwhile, “Atrio” plays with the idea of a threshold. The empty center becomes part of the project and turns into a hybrid mirror-sculpture-shelf. The reflection is not merely functional, but a storytelling element. With sharp lines and bold chromatic details, Arezzi reconsiders an everyday act through a new and surprising form.
NODUS: carpets as art from Studio Fuksas
Near the EXTO furniture, NODUS presents “Mars”, the new designer carpet from Studio Fuksas which creates a dialogue between design and abstraction, between memory and imagination.
Inspired by the planet Mars, the carpet (and its runner version) explores the idea of an interior landscape: organic forms merge with primitive patterns, as if to evoke ritualistic signs or traces of lost civilizations.
The intensity of the red, the bamboo silk, and the hand-knotted pattern transform every inch of the carpet into a sensorial and symbolic journey. Thus, NODUS shows exactly what it does best: producing one-of-a-kind pieces which combine the expressive power of contemporary design to the age-old knowledge of expert craftspeople.