Now showing: The Triennale Milano presents Gae Aulenti (1927-2012), an exhibition that pays homage to the pioneering Italian designer and architect. The show is the first large-scale monographic exhibition dedicated to Aulenti’s entire career, which spanned over six decades. It traces Aulenti's human and professional story, with consideration of the interplay of architecture with the other arts, as well as culture and politics. Highlights include a series of 1:1 scale reproductions of some of Aulenti’s most influential interiors and architectural projects.

The show is accompanied by multiple publications as well as a podcast, Gae Aulenti’s Legacy, hosted by British writer and design critic Alice Rawsthorn, which looks at Aulenti through the perspectives of friends, curators, and architects who knew her personally or through her work. Participants include Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator of the Department of Architecture and Design at New York’s MoMA; Stefano Boeri, architect and President of Triennale Milano; composer Ludovico Einaudi; gallerist Antonia Jannone; and architect Farshid Moussavi. The exhibition is on view until January 12, 2025, and you can listen to the first two podcast episodes here.

In Shanghai, Gallery All celebrates its ten-year anniversary with an exhibition that delves into “the myriad ways light intertwines with design.” Titled Illumination as Prelude, the show features work by a trio of talents: The Haas Brothers, Michael Young, and Zhipeng Tan. The Haas Brothers’ exhibited work draws on a shared childhood memory of light. Young’s totemic lighting, meanwhile, is inspired by traditional Chinese lanterns, melding light with aluminum, to employ the material’s reflective and refractive qualities. And Tan's pieces use light to consider the relationship between living and non-living entities, as well as the natural and the industrial. On view through August 11

This summer, Germany's Northern Black Forest welcomes the return of Ornamenta, an international celebration of art and design. Taking place across the region, the platform will manifest as a series of site-specific exhibitions, public installations, and events. A follow-up to an event first held in 1989, Ornamenta blurs the borders of the region, replacing the existing municipal districts with five thematic neighborhoods—or “Gemeinden” in German—each investigating specific topics of local and international significance, from access to clean air to social taboos and technology. Drawing local communities, institutions, and industries together to partner with international creatives, the program is meant to evoke new perspectives across the region. July 5 - Sept 29

London’s Sarah Myerscough Gallery dedicates its summer show to the work of British sculptor Eleanor Lakelin. Intimations features Lakelin’s latest experimental vessel forms composed in wood. Working exclusively with trees grown in Britain and felled due to decay, Lakelin’s sculptural objects are made in Horse Chestnut using a traditional woodworking lathe and centuries-old chisels and gouges, alongside modern tools and carving techniques. Her vessels appear like archaeological objects pulled from the ground; classical forms are referenced and smooth surfaces, reminiscent of ossified matter, rhythmically yield to knotted sections of burr. Until July 31

In New York, Friedman Benda presents Lebanese-French designer Najla El Zein’s second solo show with the gallery, entitled Opacity, transparency, and everything in between. The exhibition features new works in glass as well as multi-person seating in ceramic, travertine, and ceppo—the result of El Zein’s weaving together of personal reflections with material explorations.

As she notes: “Opacity, transparency, and everything in between reflects on one’s initial perceptions, misunderstandings, and the necessity to decipher the layers beneath, as truth often lies between the lines. The title of the exhibition came to me long before its form or direction materialized, representing my persistent quest for a deeper understanding of life’s intricacies. This exploration naturally extends into my artistic expression, where I seek to methodically break down and interpret these observations.” Until August 10

This week, Munich’s Pinakothek der Moderne debuts a new room in its permanent exhibition devoted to its exceptional glass collection. Designed by Munich-based studio OHA, the fresh thematic installation is the first of multiple reimaginings for the museum’s permanent presentations, which are planned in honor of the 100th anniversary of Die Neue Sammlung in 2025/2026. Given that over 5000 objects in the museum’s collection are glass, the medium was a fitting initial focus. Highlights include a window by Frank Lloyd Wright, originally from the Avery Coonley Playhouse in Riverside, IL; sculptural works by Libensky and Brychtova; postmodern pieces by Memphis and Borek Sipek; and contemporary works by Bernhard Heesen and Ritsue Mishima; among others.

Finally, there’s just a few weeks left to visit Radical Playgrounds at Berlin’s Gropius Bau.  The interactive exhibition not only traces the history of playgrounds as democratic sites, but also offers hands-on opportunities for visitors old and young to explore and play. Conceived as a cross between a sculpture park, a Spielplatz (playground), a museum extension, and a temporary funfair, many of its installations and pavilions use playground vocabulary—be it a swing, a water fountain, a carousel or a labyrinth—to reveal what is left unspoken: histories of inclusion and exclusion, engaging activism through the medium of play, a dark past buried underground, and a necessity to rethink the notion of interdependence on this planet. Until July 14