Gucci | Bamboo Encounters | Milan Design Week 2025

From art and culture to design, bamboo has traced a unique path throughout the House’s history, becoming the natural protagonist of Gucci | Bamboo Encounters. Curated and designed by 2050+ and its founder Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, the event explores various interpretations of the material through the works of contemporary designers, including a limited-edition zine by data artist Tiziana Alocci.

The exhibition took place at Milan’s Chiostri di San Simpliciano during the Milan Design Week 2025.

PASSAVENTO by Nathalie Du Pasquier

Taking inspiration from bamboo’s form, French artist Nathalie Du Pasquier reimagines the material in a folding screen. Entitled ‘PASSAVENTO,’ Du Pasquier designed lightweight panels to frame silk prints. Presenting a natural juxtaposition, the work contrasts the wildness of bamboo with the delicate touch of fabric.

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Thank You, Bamboo by Kite Club

Product and textile designer Bertjan Pot and still-life photographers Liesbeth Abbenes and Maurice Scheltens of Kite Club present ‘Thank you, Bamboo,’ a series of kites made with ripstop nylon, plastic, and bamboo. Using this combination of materials, the work showcases that anyone can experience the joy of flying kites.

Engraved by Sisan Lee

Sisan Lee, a Seoul-based designer and artist, incorporates the classic and contemporary in ‘Engraved.’ Through relief and intaglio techniques, traces of bamboo are etched on aluminum, connecting Lee’s modern artistry with traditional Korean aesthetics of ‘subtraction,’ seen in the restrained beauty of Joseon porcelain and paintings.

Engraved, by Seoul-based designer Sisan Lee

Scaffolding by Laurids Gallée

Inspired by bamboo support structures, Austrian designer Laurids Gallée reinterprets the material in ‘Scaffolding.’ Here, the resin mirrors the resilient gracefulness of bamboo, contrasting its self-imposing form with softer, negative space. Rendered in a deep blue, the work evokes a gentle stillness, inviting interpretation.

1802251226 by Anton Alvarez

Swedish-Chilean artist Anton Alvarez pays tribute to bamboo’s shape and height with his sculpture, ‘1802251226.’ Guided by organic forms, the sculpture balances the growth of the plant with the movement of water, evoking natural elements that provide stability and life but also defy structural limits, both reliable yet wild.

Hybrid Exhalations by Dima Srouji

Palestinian architect, artist, and researcher Dima Srouji intertwines the methodical process of bamboo craftsmanship with lightweight glass in ‘Hybrid Exhalations.’ With foraged bamboo baskets and hand-blown glass additions, Srouji combines the slow-paced with the fast-paced, the intricate with the fragile.

Bamboo assemblage n.1 by the back studio

The back studio, featuring duo Eugenio Rossi and Yaazd Contractor, illuminate the material in ‘bamboo assemblage n.1.’ The duo contrasts bamboo’s versatility with the precision of cold cathode glass and high-tech hardware, introducing a dynamic tension between tradition and modernity.

All photos Gucci