What’s Happening: Lionel Jadot, the founder of Brussels design collective Zaventem Ateliers, is transforming an erstwhile factory on the outskirts of Milan into Baranzate Ateliers, a like-minded showcase of handicraft during the city’s design week.

The Download: “I see the world moving towards AI and virtual reality, and I feel this strong urgent drive within me to create a world of real people making real things and to show how beautiful it is,” Lionel Jadot told Surface, in 2019, during a tour of Zaventem Ateliers in Brussels. In the past few years, the workshop has emerged as one of Europe’s most experimental and atypical design collectives, noted for its communal ethos informed by the spirit of Middle Age guilds. Located within a centuries-old paper factory, Zaventem is a creative playground where makers united by their passion for handicraft can come together to share techniques and inspiration; a hive of workshops that functions as an analog, open-source network focused on making one-off and limited-edition objects.

Now, Jadot is bringing Zaventem’s winning formula to Milan Design Week (June 6–12). Taking over the disused Necchi factory in the Baranzate district, a crucial nexus within the Italian city’s industrial heritage, the newly christened Baranzate Ateliers will become a platform to present Zaventem’s philosophy, atmosphere, and designer roster to the global stage. Though the dilapidated site may strike some as rough-around-the-edges or even post-apocalyptic, the convivial nature of Baranzate’s familiar client roster softens the mood. “We’ve curated it with a scenography created by all the designers of Zaventem Ateliers, which allows for a simple and elegant reading of the pieces and the place,” Jadot says.

Among the artists and makers presenting work this year are Zaventem residents Arno Declercq, Pascale Risbourg, and Pierre Coddens. But the occasion also saw Jadot expand his purview and invite other talents into the fold. Notably, the Milanese design duo Studiopepe was invited to present its first-ever collectible design series, which includes a throne-like chair in charred wood, a low table made of layered onyx slabs, and tubular concrete luminaires through Galerie Philia. The goal, of course, is to offer a glimpse of how Baranzate Ateliers can plant roots in Milan as an extension of its Belgian counterpart and become a crossroads for exchange among the Milan Design Week crowd—designers, architects, collectors, and enthusiasts—who are looking for a mold-breaking approach after two years of disruption.

In Their Own Words: “This meeting is unique because it’s a rare movement when reality meets our dreams, and here we are after eight months of intense work with Pietro Minelli, our local architect,” Jadot says. “My dream would be to make a concept like Zaventem Ateliers in this place, and have it run by Italian designers for Italian designers. Milan would have a new unique place in the production of collectible design.”

Surface Says: We see great potential for Zaventem Ateliers permanently setting up shop in Milan, a city whose design sphere thrives on collaboration and deeply reveres handicraft traditions.

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When we last caught up with Bari Ziperstein, her studio was much smaller but no less a well-oiled machine: “My design practice helps my team and I sharpen our skills, gain dexterity with materials, and experiment with craft and engineering,” the Los Angeles ceramicist told Surface. “When called upon—either for an exhibition or to make art myself—we all have these skills at our fingertips.”

Ditto when it came time to upgrade her home base, which involved expanding her studio to a 9,000-square-foot ceramics workshop and creating an all-new showroom to better serve the manifold branches of her practice. (There’s BZIPPY, her furniture and housewares brand; BZ Collectible design, which primarily serves the interior design trade; and her fine art practice that recasts her signature vessels as captivating canvases that nod to Soviet culture.) Ziperstein enlisted friends Luke Foss and Ashley Hildreth of local firm Foss Hildreth—alums of The Future Perfect, her collectible design gallery—with envisioning an all-encompassing facility that stays true to her colorful aesthetic while staying practical for the dynamic needs of an evolving ceramics studio.

Since opening in Miami in 2016, KYU’s innovative Japanese yakiniku (barbecue) dishes have earned the restaurant a litany of accolades. Now, thanks to a partnership with the Britain-based firm Reuben Brothers, KYU founders Alan Omsky and Jordan Sayfie are ready to branch out. First came an outpost in Mexico City, in 2020, now a return across the border to New York, where it has debuted inside a low-lit space in NoHo.

Concrete finishes, Versailles oak-wood floors, and brick-walled columns outfit the lounge and dining room, which are divided by a luminescent brass mesh curtain. Overseen by executive chef Chris Arellanes, whose past stops include Per Se and Eleven Madison Park, and employing its signature wood-fired grilling techniques, fan-favorites such as the seven-hour smoked short ribs and Wagyu brisket with black shichimi pepper made the trip, as did the standout whole-roasted cauliflower with goat cheese and shishito herb vinaigrette. Next up, KYU has its eye on Las Vegas and London, with Washington D.C., Chicago, and Nashville also under consideration for future expansion.

Kickie Chudikova is captivated by the timeless beauty of raw materials and firmly believes that vivid colors can uplift one’s experience—a point of view that the Bratislava-born industrial designer flexed while working for Karim Rashid before launching her own studio in 2020. The Brooklyn local’s first-ever collection, presented at Alcova during this year’s Milan Design Week, drives awareness to the decline of insects through a multi-sensory experience: a bulbous armchair, stained glass–like windows that replicate wing patterns, and a globe-shaped mini bar that emanates a verdant scent.

Last week, the Guggenheim Young Collectors Party took over the museum’s Frank Lloyd Wright–designed rotunda after a two-year hiatus. Art collectors and enthusiasts from around the world gathered to enjoy a DJ set by TT Britt, a transcendent live performance by Perfume Genius, the LG OLED lounge, and atmospheric club designs by artists Jacolby Satterwhite and Tourmaline. To kick off the party, Guggenheim chief curator Naomi Beckwith and LG head of brand management Seol Park announced the LG Guggenheim Art and Technology Initiative, a five-year program to research and promote artists working at the intersection between art and technology.

When was it? June 1

Where was it? Guggenheim Museum, New York

Who was there? Maya Margarita, Kouros Maghsoudi, Jiminie Ha, Hannah Gottlieb-Graham, and more.

Since it was founded inside of a small laboratory in the hills of Vicenza nearly 40 years ago, Sonus Faber has burnished a stellar reputation in the audio world by pairing Italian craftsmanship with innovative sound technology and sleek designs. A dedication to natural forms and materials—the late founder Franco Serblin’s first design was a trailblazing all-wood speaker shaped like a snail—has instilled the brand’s products with an organic quality. Case in point: the just-released Omnia.

Crowned with a sleek walnut finish inspired by an elegant sailboat deck, the hand-made wireless system concepted by chief design officer Livio Cucuzza has an architectural sensibility that makes it worthy of display next to the most stylish decor objects. Though minimal in appearance, advanced acoustic technology and two full-range speakers provide an immersive soundscape that channels the sensation of a live performance. The best part? Omnia has the widest range of connection modes on the market, meaning it’s compatible with everything from music streaming platforms to vinyl turntables.

“Man-made climate change is the biggest challenge of our time,” says Jan Christian Vestre, the third-generation CEO of the Norwegian outdoor furniture brand that bears his last name. Since he took the helm at Vestre, the company has been on a mission to become the world’s most sustainable furniture manufacturer by pivoting to 100 percent renewable energy and producing furniture using Nordic steel, which doesn’t rust and uses 30 percent less emissions than the global average. Two years ago, he announced plans for Vestre to build a state-of-the-art factory by Bjarke Ingels Group in the Nordic countryside that aims to be an exemplar of sustainable architecture and the first building of its type to achieve BREEAM Outstanding certification.

That factory is now complete. The Plus is a 75,000-square-foot facility that not only provides a closer look inside Vestre’s efficient production, but offers an experiential destination. BIG devised a plus-shaped structure divided into four wings with different production areas—the color factory, wood factory, assembly, and warehouse—surrounding a central courtyard. At its heart is a visitor center where guests are free to learn more about Vestre’s energy production, water purification, and production life cycles firsthand, eschewing industrial buildings that are fenced off to non-employees.

Founded in 1966, Gufram produces some of the world’s most recognizable radical design staples. Under Charley Vezza’s creative direction, the brand has revitalized its catalogue through collaborations with famous designers and brands to keep the radical spirit alive.

Surface Says: Packed with playful irreverence, furniture from Gufram adds a pop to any interior. The brand’s most recognizable pieces, such as the Cactus coat stand and Pratone lounge chair, prove that humor never goes out of style.

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