Asad Syrkett

May ‘26: New work by @vdecotiis Architects for the latest cover of @ad_italia , our City Living issue. The project, within the historic Palazzo Salviati on the banks of the Grand Canal, is an unusual slice of Venetian interior architecture, a space with a compact floorplan and crowned by a lattice of exposed timber. It offers another view on Venice—and on the work of @vdecotiis : more intimate in scale and character, with a quality that feels deeply De Cotiis and reverentially Venetian, without clichés. Also in this issue: homes in Naples, New York and San Francisco; new design from Lagos, London, and beyond; and a final word on everything to see at the 61st edition of @labiennale . On newsstands today, May 12, with more now on ad-italia.it. 📸 @_martin_morrell

A packed 48 hours in Venice earlier this week: Time with work by @lotuslkang , @monia.benhamouda.studio and @lara_favaretto , each presented by @fondazionebvlgari , and a first visit to In Minor Keys at the 61st Biennale, curated by the late Koyo Kouoh. Memory, grief, resilience, joy, conflict all explored, set in a city I learned I love even more in a downpour. Also: @fondazionedriesvannoten ’s ode to human ingenuity in the newly installed galleries within Palazzo Pisani Moretta, the remarkable @lornasimpson exhibition at Punta della Dogana, “Minimal Legends” at the @vincenzodecotiisfoundation , the American Pavilion that was Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince at the @fondazioneprada at Ca’ Corner della Regina, and a few more. Mille grazie to team Bvlgari. Alla prossima, Venezia.

In mid-March, a little over a month before last week’s public opening of the new @fondazionedriesvannoten in Venice, @ad_italia convened a dozen of the artists and collaborators whose work is on view in the Fondazione’s inaugural presentation, The Only True Protest is Beauty. It was the first time many in the group had been inside the Palazzo Pisani Moretta and it was a treat to be with them all in that first flush of excitement. Paris-based French designer @wendyandreu and I chatted about the pleasure and power of in-person gatherings in this fractious, inhumane moment. The London-based Palestinian fashion designer Ayham Hassan and I spoke about his pieces, which honor the long legacy of Palestinian weaving and embroidery and are installed in conversation with work by @commesdesgarcons and Christian @lacroixofficial . We all marveled at the immense beauty of the setting and generosity of Van Noten and his partner in life and work, Patrick Vangheluwe. (Their Airedale terrier, Scott, joined the group portrait, too.) Huge thank you to Dries Van Noten and Patrick Vangheluwe, to the artists and gallerists who traveled to Venice for the portrait, and to Giulia Castelli of @gc_agency and her team. You can read my story online now and in the May editions of AD Italia (May 12), @archdigest , @ad_magazine , @ad_spain , and @ad_germany when the issues arrive on newsstands. 📸 Alessandro Timpanaro, @aletimpa . Pictured, clockwise from top left: @xaviermanosa , @isaacmonte.nl , @driesvannoten , Mario Codognato, Cristina Codognato, Pao Hui Kao, @lsendino , @kaorikurihara.ceramique , Roberto Beltrami, @armand__louis , @anncarringtonart , @ayham_hassan_99 , and @wendyandreu

Convinced that no other city could pull off what this one does during Design Week. Thinking the same about my team of editors: Eight @ad_italia events, countless exhibitions and installations, and a few very good parties. Thank you to my incredible colleagues at AD Italia for reporting from every niche of the city and the fair and especially to @alessandrapellegrino , @carola.omehga , and @giad_ella for their huge efforts on all things digital and social for AD Italia. Mille grazie to our events team for making it all run smoothly, including our first-ever AD Salotto / takeover of @marchesi1824 in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and our breakfast with @uzbekistanmdw at Palazzo Citterio. Milan, you have my love.

El mè Milan / My Milan: For our April digital cover, we asked eleven leading figures on Milan’s design and culture scene—@nataliacriado , Maria Porro, @guglielmogiagnotti and @patriziogola of @studioutte , @martasala , @fabio_cherstich , @osannavisconti , @mrsammicheli , @olimpiazagnoli , @lucacipelletti , and @luisa.dellepiane —to show us the city from their perspective as the most inside of insiders. Where do they return for inspiration, or just to reflect, away from the crowds and the beaten path? Photographer Alessandro Timpanaro (@aletimpa ) reports back in an excellent series of environmental portraits, with a story by @michiamo_valentinaraggi They unearthed a few hidden gems, but in more cases had me thinking about places I’d been to only fleetingly during Salone, but hadn’t had the time to linger in and explore more deeply. You can find a handful of the portraits in a printed feature in @ad_italia ’s April Design Week issue, in edicola tomorrow, April 14, and see the full story online now. 📸 @aletimpa

E adesso Milano. For design lovers, Milan has a gravitational force. And each year we all re-enter its orbit. I’m excited to unveil the April cover of @ad_italia , which this year we dedicate to the city of Milan and the people who are animating its design scene. Our cover story is the home of Italian art collector @valerianapoleone , back in Milan after years in London. Her fearless penthouse apartment by Gram Design Studio (@gram.designunit ) is a celebration of collaboration: it includes site-specific design works by @nathaliedupasquier , @martinogamper , and others, along with an impressive collection of contemporary art, all by women. Though Milan is known for its bourgeois, buttoned-up charms, the city’s design scene is many things. Napoleone’s staggering penthouse and unique sensibility embodies its more radical energies—more welcome now than ever. The issue is on newstands April 14. 📸 @stefangiftthaler , styling by @studioelenamora__ 🏺, cover story by @michiamo_valentinaraggi ✍️

March in Milan: a night with Guerlain and @ad_italia , an evening at La Scala, a bit of utopian thinking with Andrea Branzi and Toyo Ito, and the start of spring all over the city. Tomorrow? Salone. Sei pronto? / Marzo a Milano: una notte con @guerlain , una serata alla scala, un po’ di pension utopico con Andrea Branzi e Toyo Ito, e l’inizio di primavera in tutta la città (tra le altre cose). Domani ? Salone. You ready? 📸 1 : @lucaspossiede

60 hours in Venice

For March @ad_italia , I wrote about the Puglia home of my friends @nick_nemechek and @nathanwilliams , who sensitively restored this 1889 former summer estate, unoccupied since the 1930s. Today, it reflects both the life they’ve built together and the way Puglia—and Italy more broadly—has inspired the Canadian-American creative duo’s approach to life and home. Huge thank you to Nick and Nathan for sharing your space with us and to Martina Maffini for her sensitive, beautiful work. March @ad_italia , our Nuovi Talenti issue, is on newsstands now. Mille grazie to @ad_italia ’s Paola Corazza for her thoughtful translation of my words into Italian, as always. Link in bio. 📸 @depasquale.maffini

March @ad_italia is on newsstands now, and I’m so excited for you all to see it. For the fourth consecutive year, it’s dedicated to new and emerging talent in interiors, design, architecture. This year, we noticed a continued push against conventions of genre (is it art, architecture, or is it design?) and the idea that single-author projects are where the genius is (creative collectives continue to turn out some of the freshest new ideas). Our New Talents for 2026, all from or based in Italy, are exceptional. Our cover story is an elegantly layered Paris apartment by the rising star @maximebousquet , whose romantic sensibility isn’t without humor—or Italian influence. A sophisticated primary suite that can also let in the surrealist fun of Mario Ceroli’s monumental 1970s “La bocca della verità” bed? Not an easy feat. But design’s rising stars are up to this challenge—and so many others presented by the moment. It’s all in the issue. 📸 @alexisarmanet 🏺@sarahdebeaumont . Special thanks to @marina.hemonet and @ad_magazine

Alla prossima, Parigi #decooff2026

A few more from the January-February cover story of @ad_italia , designer @ramdanetouhami ’s Roman apartment in the Palazzo Borghese. The apartment is impressive, but its ease, livability, and charm is maybe more remarkable, given the immense history of the building. “On a recent visit, a quiet holiday afternoon in Rome,” I write in my story about the apartment, “jazz and funk from across the African diaspora thrummed from a speaker on the floor in the gallery-salon. On the way out, Touhami stopped to demonstrate one of his favorite features of the apartment, a small, hidden window in a guest bathroom. The opening provides a view of the stairwell outside the apartment—and an opportunity to eavesdrop as guests leave. Even in the Palazzo Borghese, Touhami is still bringing his signature mischief.” Read the full story in our #ad100 issue (with Italian and English text), on stands now, and at ad-italia.it 🏛️ 📸 @stefangiftthaler