Located in Milan’s Palazzo dell’Arte, the Triennale Milano has one of the world’s greatest collections of historic design. But for the most part, the tables and chairs in the museum are featured as artifacts on podiums rather than as functional objects in daily use. (This is for good reason, of course — as rarities, it is important to preserve the works for future generations.) In the Triennale’s new Cucina restaurant and café space, however, diners are invited to take a seat at a selection of archival designs — with a contemporary twist. 

Manufactured by UniFor, the tables in the dining area are, for the most part, faithful reproductions of the steel-framed furniture that Gigiotti Zanin designed for the building’s original interiors in 1933. However, while they are based on careful study of those designs, these new iterations do reflect one major update: They incorporate a resistant Fenix top. Meanwhile, the padded, stackable wooden seats that join the tables are an entirely new creation, designed by Studio Klass to complement their historic companions.

This pairing of old and new effectively captures the spirit of the Triennale’s reno writ large. Spanning 2,300 square metres of park-level interior space — and encompassing an additional 7,300 square metres of gardens, porticos and façade updates — the “Piano Parco” revamp project aimed to preserve the storied identity of the Triennale’s building and grounds while also keeping with the times and evolving the institution’s role as a cultural hub. 

Initially envisioned as a flexible exhibition space, the Palazzo dell’Arte was later adapted into a permanent design museum in 2007. Studio AR.CH.IT founder Luca Cipelletti, who now serves as the architectural director of Palazzo dell’Arte and led the Triennale’s restoration project, took great care to respect this heritage while envisioning the museum’s next chapter. For instance, in another thoughtful toast to the past, the Triennale Cucina now sits in the space that Palazzo dell’Arte architect Giovanni Muzio had earmarked for a restaurant back in the 1930s. The original rhomboid beam ceilings remain, now carefully lit by ERCO to illuminate both the geometry of this architectural feature and the dining tables below. 

Altogether, the Cucina spans three connected rooms (the restaurant occupies two, and the café the third). When it comes time for an event, green curtains (chosen to match the Palazzo’s Cipollino marble, and manufactured by Dedar) allow for different configurations of the various spaces. Rounding out the main dining area are a series of artworks by Alberto Garutti (a onetime chair of painting at the Brera Academy) and a selection of Tacchini furniture. 

Mind you, most diners will find their attention drifts to the restaurant’s windows, which look out to a 215-square-metre outdoor terrace that seats 84 on the triple portico, and to the 7,300-square-metre garden just beyond. An anchor element here is Giorgio De Chirico’s Mysterious Baths Fountain, which was created in 1973 for the 15th Triennale di Milano and features sculptures of various pool party staples, including a colourful beach ball, a rainbow-hued swan and two swimming torsos. To give this showpiece its appropriate due, the garden has been reconfigured to ensure a clear sightline from the restaurant to the fountain.

Another new space introduced as part of the revamp is Voce, a park-level venue designed for concerts, DJ sets and sound installations, but also able to host meetings and workshops. The Palazzo dell’Arte has a rich history with music — hosting dances in its early days, and a legendary Jimi Hendrix concert in 1968. Most recently, the Triennale welcomed Björk to DJ a Vans party during this April’s edition of Milan Design Week. The new space reflects design’s role as part of a larger, cross-disciplinary conversation. A series of musical works, created especially for Voce, can be experienced in the space by day, while a cocktail bar springs into action by night. Modular felt seating designed by Philippe Malouin and produced by Meritalia transitions perfectly from listening sessions to club nights. A soundwall (designed and engineered by Giorgio Di Salvo, Lucio Visentini and Knauf) and an LED system backdrop the A/V experience.

Photo by Smarin Studio

Rounding out the Triennale’s new offerings is Gioco, a free space dedicated to kids and families. Here, the French design studio Smarin presents a modular system that mixes cork blocks and solid pine components, allowing the space to be easily reconfigured for workshops, screenings and other programming — but also to function as an engaging play space on days when nothing in particular is on the schedule. The outcome reiterates that no matter what age you are, there is delight to be found in design.