Alcova's debut pop-up bar doubles as a "nocturnal gallery"

The founders of Milan design week showcase Alcova have opened a late-night bar and restaurant in an old slaughterhouse for the festival's 2025 edition.

Named Vocla, the pop-up venue was described as a "nocturnal gallery". It encourages festivalgoers to get up close and personal with design by serving food and drinks among a curated exhibition of collectible design, installations and experimental prototypes.

"It's kind of inverting the Alcova model," said Joseph Grima, who runs the project together with Valentina Ciuffi.

"When Alcova closes, Vocla opens."

Much like Alcova, Vocla also takes place in an underused building that would otherwise be closed to the public – the former slaughterhouse of Viale Molise in the east of Milan.

Inside, the space is organised around a backlit bar designed by Ugo Cacciatori that will stay open until two in the morning every day of Milan design week except today, when the whole venue is closed.

Alongside furniture by Italian brand Henge, Vocla integrates recent works by emerging and established designers. Breaking with the traditional exhibition format, many of these pieces are actually put to use rather than merely displayed.

Among them are a DJ console by local studio NM3, chairs by Ethiopian-Italian designer ABREHAM and the latest collection of Palestinian brand Local Industries.

The aim is to provide a late-night gathering space that's equally as well-considered as the many fair stands, exhibitions and installations that Milan design week visitors will see during the day.

"While it's true that people obviously do come to Milan to see design and to see products and so on, it's equally true, or possibly even more true, that people are coming here to see each other," Grima told Dezeen.

"And the social dimension of Milan design week is, in our opinion, equally important but much less well-designed," he added.

"What kind of happens is that you get to the end of the day, and then when all the exhibitions close, there's this sort of scramble to find a table, and then the typical Bar Basso scrum or equivalent somewhere else."

Vocla also hopes to sate the design-hungry public with a pop-up restaurant run by Yapa, which Ciuffi describes as "one of the best restaurants in town".

Reservations are required for the pop-up eatery. But the bar will be open to everybody until the space is full, in a bid to create an open forum where even those who aren't attending the many invite-only dinners hosted throughout the week can make connections and meet prospective collaborators.

"It's also about projects, for sure, but it's equally as much about creating a temporary place, a place that only exists for this very, very brief moment in which the whole world design community converges on Milan," Grima said.

Alcova – Vocla's daytime counterpart – is now in its seventh year and has become a mainstay in the Milan design week calendar. For 2025, the exhibition is spread across four different venues, with highlights including archival Noritake ceramics hand-painted by Faye Toogood.

For more information on what to see throughout the week, refer to our roundup of the 20 must-see installations and exhibitions.

The photography is by P Sorgetti.

See our Milan design week 2025 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.

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