Stone took centre stage during this year’s Milan Design Week with 7+1 Acts of Survival, an exhibition asking what allows materials and the ideas they shape to endure across time.

Curated by Librizzi and Robustini at the new Milan cultural platform THE LINE, the exhibition brought together seven international designers, each invited to respond to a single starting point: a 50 × 50 × 50cm block of black African stone formed more than 2.5 billion years ago. From this shared geological origin emerged a series of works positioned somewhere between sculpture, architecture and functional object.

Rather than treating stone as a finished architectural surface, the exhibition reframed it as an active participant in cultural memory. Each designer interpreted survival differently, through carving, subtraction, structural manipulation or symbolic gesture. 

The pieces on display included Maurizio, a table of interlocking stone shaped through stereotomy created by AAU Anastas. Brumance chose the act of subtraction as their focal point, with all the pieces cut during the creation of their minimal chair being used to form complementary furniture. Perhaps even more conceptually, Studio MK27 chose to reinterpret cutting dust in a unique circular process that visualises both literal and metaphorical dust on the surface of their low table.

Other participants included Kengo Kuma, Bernard Khoury, Claudio Silvestrin, and Ugo Cacciatori, with all the pieces exploring durability not simply as permanence, but as the ability of materials to adapt, carry meaning and remain relevant across generations.

The works were arranged along a linear 30-metre exhibition space, encouraging visitors to move sequentially through the installation. Lighting designer PSLab developed a restrained scheme that emphasised texture, shadow and geological depth, allowing subtle differences in finish and form to emerge.

Production partner Casone Group supplied the stone blocks and provided fabrication expertise, underscoring the continuing importance of specialist craftsmanship in translating conceptual design into physical material.

While Milan Design Week frequently foregrounds novelty, 7+1 Acts of Survival offered a quieter reflection on durability, reminding visitors that innovation often begins with reinterpreting materials already shaped by deep geological time.