Milan Design Week officially wrapped last Sunday. As usual, the fair and the hundreds of off-site venues across the city were sprawling and endlessly thrilling. It also helped that everyone’s mood was uniformly upbeat due to weather that remained a steady 20-degrees and sunny, with wisteria blooming at every corner.

At the fair, such seasoned designers as Hella Jongerius, Konstantin Grcic, Karim Rashid and Patricia Urquiola could all be seen checking in on their various launches and expanded product ranges. The biennial EuroCucina filled two halls with new kitchen systems, some conceptualized by the likes of Oki Sato of Nendo and architect Daniel Libeskind, both new to the realm of kitchen design.

The main motif of Sato’s model for Scavolini, called Ki (Japanese for “container”), is a shelf of white rounded bins that replace the usual cupboard. Urquiola also unveiled her first kitchen system, designed for Boffi and on view at the brand’s downtown showroom.

In previous years, Tom Dixon has headed up an off-site exhibition called Most that invites dozens of talents – both well-known and recent design school grads – to display their work in Zona Tortona. This year, he scaled back to just showing his own collection in a mid-sized booth at the fair.

The newest pieces, a combination of lighting, seating and accessories, maintain that gentleman’s smoking room appeal, rendered in such rich textures as velvet upholstery (on wing back chairs) and solid brass (for candlesticks and paperweights).

Even without Dixon’s presence, the Tortona district was electric with other exhibits, including NLXL’s dynamic display of wallpaper by Studio Job, and the return of Moooi’s Unexpected Welcome, where dozens of living space vignettes were set against Massimo Listri’s massive-scale photographs of stately libraries and cathedral interiors.

Our selection of images from the week presents but a tiny snapshot of all that could be taken in. Don’t miss our in-depth report on the show, to be featured in our July/August issue.

Compiled by Giovanna Dunmall, Catherine Osborne and Nelda Rodger.