Snøhetta and USM unveil ‘Renaissance of the Real’, a sensory cocoon exploring presence at Milan Design Week

Presented at Fondazione Luigi Rovati during Milan Design Week 2026, Renaissance of the Real unfolds as a quiet counterpoint to the velocity of contemporary life. Conceived by Annabelle Schneider in collaboration with Snøhetta and USM Modular Furniture, the installation proposes a return to embodied perception, positioning the physical environment as a medium for restoring attention, intimacy, and shared presence.

The project reframes the conditions produced by contemporary technology without positioning itself as a direct critique. In a culture shaped by continuous connectivity and algorithmic mediation, perception becomes dispersed and increasingly detached from the body. Renaissance of the Real constructs a space where experience slows down, gains density, and reconnects with the sensory. Presence is neither represented nor simulated, but enacted through proximity, duration, and awareness, reaffirming the body as a primary site of knowledge in an era dominated by images and speed.

At its core, the installation reinterprets the modular logic of the USM Haller system. Known for its precision and adaptability, the steel grid is expanded beyond its conventional role as furniture into an architectural framework. This rigid structure supports a soft textile membrane that subtly expands and contracts, evoking a breathing organism. The resulting spatial condition operates between control and fluidity, where the clarity of the grid meets the ambiguity of a permeable envelope. Structure and vulnerability coexist, forming a cocoon-like environment that oscillates between enclosure and openness.

The spatial choreography developed by Snøhetta situates the installation simultaneously as an object within the museum garden and as an interior landscape. Entry begins with a small ritual gesture, a warm towel offered to visitors, marking a transition from overstimulation to attentiveness. Inside, the environment unfolds through gradients of sound, diffused light, scent, and tactile surfaces. These elements do not compete for attention but accumulate quietly, recalibrating perception.

The USM grid acts as both anchor and filter, mediating between exterior distraction and interior focus. Within this softened enclosure, the presence of others becomes perceptible not through direct interaction but through shared stillness. The installation resists spectacle, instead privileging duration and subtlety as spatial tools. To deepen this sensory register, daily vinyl listening sessions introduce analogue sound frequencies into the space, reinforcing the project’s commitment to physical experience, where listening becomes an act of attention rather than consumption.

Founded in 1885, USM has long developed a design language rooted in modularity, durability, and precision engineering. Within Renaissance of the Real, this legacy is extended into an experiential domain, where the system becomes not only functional infrastructure but also spatial armature. Annabelle Schneider’s practice operates at the intersection of art, design, and perception, framing architecture as a living interface capable of holding collective experience while foregrounding individual awareness. Snøhetta’s contribution lies in orchestrating these elements into a coherent spatial narrative, integrating architecture, landscape, and human experience into a unified field.

Renaissance of the Real does not offer an escape from the digital. Instead, it constructs a parallel condition where the physical regains intensity and relevance. Through material, atmosphere, and time, the installation proposes that presence cannot be downloaded or replicated. It must be inhabited.

Project Credit

Project name: Renaissance of the Real
Location: Fondazione Luigi Rovati, Milan, Italy
Event: Milan Design Week
Concept and artist: Annabelle Schneider / @annabellesbubble
Design and spatial development: Snøhetta / @snohetta
Modular system and partner: USM Modular Furniture / @usmmodularfurniture
Photography: Courtesy of USM Haller

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