With Milan Design Week 2025 kicking off next week, we thought it would be a good opportunity to revisit past editions of the furniture and design show—the largest of its kind globally—to see the ways that 3D printing has been spotlighted over the years. VoxelMatters has been covering Milan Design Week for a decade now and has been lucky to see the evolution of additive manufacturing in design reflected there through cutting-edge and eye-catching products and installations. Here are some of our favorite 3D printed projects from years past.
2024
Last year, Milan Design Week visitors were wowed by a large 3D printed pavilion made by Dutch company Aectual. The installation, called Bar Infinite, was made from over 30,000 Tetra Pak drink cartons and—as the company says—was intended to “stimulate conversations around infinite material (re-)use.” Bar Infinite also featured pendant lighting fixtures made by Signify (part of its Philips MyCreation range) in cooperation with designer Basten Leijh. The design for the lamp, which was made from sustainable bio-materials, was inspired by fabric and textile layering, fitting seamlessly in with Aectual’s textured bar.
2023
Milan Design Week 2023 had many 3D printed products on show, from elegant 3D printed bathroom fixtures by GROHE, to lighting solutions from Les Jardins – Aix en Provence, to the Maserati Gran Turismo One Off Luce with 3D printed elements. One of our favorite projects of this edition was a collection of decorative cushions with 3D printed textiles made by French brand Atelier des Refusés. The collection, made in collaboration with Stratasys, is called “Biodiversity” and was inspired by the world of fungi. 3D printing enabled the design brand to not only create a unique texture and visual effect on the home goods, but also meet their own zero waste mission.
2022
Milan Design Week 2022 showcased a great array of 3D printed furniture, including the very comfortable SLOPE chair made by OECHSLER. The chair, made using Multi Jet Fusion, was notable for integrating 3D printed cushioning. The comfort of the seating solution achieved by tuning 3D printed lattice sizes and strut thicknesses, not unlike OECHSLER’s approach for automotive seating. The SLOPE chair, which VoxelMatters’ Co-Founder Davide Sher was lucky to try, features a metal rack and 3D printed seat pads, 3D printed lattice pillows, 3D printed connectors and easily swappable textile covers. Notably, all components of the chair can be dismounted and separately recycled.
2019
2019’s Milan Design Week featured more than one massive 3D printed installation. The first was a bar built by Italian company Caracol, which specializes in multi-axis robotic extrusion AM. The bar, which looked out over the Porta Nuova District in Milan, was reportedly the “first bar ever to be completely 3D printed by a robotic arm system”. Also on display was a truly awesome installation, Conifera, which was presented by COS and designed by architect Arthur Mamou-Mani (recently named as one of the 20 for 2025 World Design Congress Trailblazers). The piece was composed of 3D printed bricks made from a bioplastic material using the WASP 3MT 3D printer and took over the Palazzo Isimbardi, creating a bridge between the past and present as well as between architecture and nature.
2018
Rewind back to 2018, when construction 3D printing was far less advanced than it is today. Now picture walking through central Milan and seeing a large 3D printed house being built on site. It’s no wonder that this project, spearheaded by CLS Architetti, Arup and Cybe, was a standout. The house, dubbed 3D Housing 05, spanned 100 square meters and featured a living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. The walls were 3D printed using Cybe’s construction 3DP technology and were made to be disassembled and moved, demonstrating the versatility and sustainability of 3D printed housing.
2017
Zaha Hadid Architects, a British architecture firm founded by the renowned Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, impressed visitors of the 2017 edition of Milan Design Week with an intricate and innovate sculpture measuring nearly three meters in height. The piece, named Thallus after the Greek work for flora, was an exploration of generative form and pattern. In practice, the sculpture was made using hot-wire cutting and six-axis robotic 3D printing, which extruded seven kilometers of material in a continuous line, looping and curving the material resulting in a lace-like pattern.
2016
Nine years ago, Italian designer Giulia Ber Tacchini achieved a 3D printing “first” by creating a series of metal 3D printed hangbags. The purses, part of the designer’s Maissa collection, were designed in Grasshopper and 3D printed from copper using SLM technology. If you’re thinking that a metal purse might be a bit heavy to tote around all day, the handbags remain lightweight thanks to the generative grid design. Ber Tacchini also created a few models that integrated metal 3D printed decorations onto a more traditional purse design. At the time, the 3D printed handbags were retailing for up to €1,200 (they are now listed on the Maissa website for €1,590).
On the lookout for AM at MDW 2025
For those lucky enough to attend the upcoming Milan Design Week 2025, be on the lookout for the latest 3D printing applications and installations. The event, which showcases the latest in furniture and design innovations, always has something great on offer. If you aren’t able to attend, tune back in next week for coverage of the trade show.
