Responsive Nature, Milan Design Week 2026
Molteni&C introduces the 2026 Outdoor Collection, curated by Vincent Van Duysen, with the Responsive Nature installation at Via Senato 14, on public view during MDW 2026.
Responsive Nature is an installation concept by Elisa Ossino Studio that invites guests to meander through a sequence of six radically different botanical landscapes, ranging from fantastic to natural environments — from spaces characterized by human tending to others where nature has the final word — inviting us to reimagine our interconnected relationship with the natural world.
GARDEN OF EDEN
The journey opens in a grand colonnaded courtyard, where a contemporary Eden comes to life with a primordial and luminous garden evoking the relationship between mythology and botany. Between the columns, flowering trees, lush foliage, monumental ferns, and citrus trees enliven the scene, planted in large containers.
Outdoor furnishings from the Soleva Collection by Vincent Van Duysen, the Chelsea Outdoor Collection by Dordoni Studio, and Arc Table by Foster + Partners enter into dialogue with this vegetation, as if they were ancient inhabitants of a timeless space. This garden acts as a prelude, introducing the exhibition’s central theme: the relationship between nature and form.
THIRD LANDSCAPE
Beyond the courtyard, visitors enter a wilder environment. Here, the Third Landscape unfolds, inspired by French landscape architect, agronomist, botanist, entomologist, and writer Gilles Clément, who in his Manifeste du Tiers Paysage, defined ‘third landscape’ as the ensemble of spaces — rural or urban — abandoned by humans and left to nature alone. Due to their lack of human footprint, these territories become essential reservoirs of biodiversity.
This garden embraces vegetal freedom. Tall grasses sway in the wind, ivy overtakes surfaces, spontaneous shrubs proliferate, and architectural screens evoke fragments of ruins. A pathway traces a subtle line through the landscape, punctuated by scattered living areas that emerge among ancient trees.
Here, unobtrusive furnishings are discovered gradually within the vegetation. On display are pieces from the Soleva Collection by Vincent Van Duysen, the Pantalica Collection by Elisa Ossino, and the Petalo armchair by Vincent Van Duysen.
AQUATIC GARDEN
A rounded clearing hosts an intimate and contemplative water garden. In the center, a basin filled with submerged and floating plants including water lilies, papyrus, and rushes creates a quiet microcosm. Leaves rest lightly on the water’s surface like musical notes.
A circular seating arrangement with Club chairs by Yabu Pushelberg surrounds the basin, encouraging visitors to enjoy a moment of pause. This is the first true invitation to stillness in the journey in a garden devoted to listening and observation — a meditative interlude.
HORTUS BOTANICUS
Beneath a pergola, a contemporary vegetable garden, an hortus conclusus, features aromatic herbs, fruit trees and vegetables. It is an intimate space, scented with earth and freshly brushed leaves, that elevates the concept of cultivation.
In this scene, nature is ordered, measured, and arranged into geometric patterns. Greenery is thoughtfully composed by human hands. Furnishings from the Soleva Collection by Vincent Van Duysen, the Chelsea Outdoor Collection by Dordoni Studio and the Helios kitchen by Vincent Van Duysen reinforce the garden’s convivial and domestic character.
LUNAR GARDEN
Recalling the shape of the moon the Lunar Garden evokes nature at night. A circular hedge enclosing an intimate space, where the atmosphere is rarefied, almost metaphysical.
On display are the Palinfrasca sofa by Vincent Van Duysen, the Panna Cotta small table by Ron Gilad, and the D.154.2 and D.150.5 armchairs by Gio Ponti.
RESPONSIVE NATURE
At the end of the journey, the finale entitled Responsive Nature — an immersive video installation conceived by Stefano Roveda — transforms the exit corridor into a digital ecosystem teeming with life. Through fluid projections and mirrored surfaces, the human body engages with a virtual nature that merges physical space with technological vision powered by Lenovo.
Entering this immersive environment, the visitor becomes part of what they observe, seeing their own reflections embedded in the surrounding nature.
In a time marked by divisions, the work suggests a third path: a profound respect for life in all its forms. By observing, we are prompted to recognize ourselves as part of the same flow and to imagine a possible harmony.
