04/05/2026
The spatial installation by STUDIO8 ARCHITECTS at Porta Nuova, during Milan design week 2026
The installation takes the Chinese tower as its archetype — built entirely through mortise-and-tenon joinery, no screws, no glue, fully reversible. Stackable benches and stools form a modular system that functions independently or assembles into a sculptural tower form. The silhouette carries a deliberate visual echo of Chinese character structure: weight distributed, balance negotiated, meaning built from parts.
Light inside the pieces is diffuse, even, without a focal point — a different logic from Western directional light. Here, light doesn’t guide you somewhere. It simply stays. It becomes a medium for slowing down, for noticing where you are.
The site matters. Porta Nuova’s neoclassical stone — heavy, vertical, permanent — creates a quiet tension with the timber: lighter, horizontal, designed to be taken apart. Not a confrontation. A conversation. The symmetry of the square has been deliberately broken. There is no obvious path through. You have to move slowly, find your own way around it.
A very special thanks to and who helped us throughout this amazing experience.
Photos by
Exhibition venue Square design
Sponsors: Solid wood furniture & Ostuni Lighting
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