Descend the inconspicuous stairwell outside of Milan’s public pool, Piscina Cozzi (designed by Luigi Secchi in the 1930s and still very much in use), during Milan Design Week 2025 and you’ll discover a hidden jewel of an exhibition. Arranged across the building’s dimly lit basement, tucked into rows of old shower stalls – spaces that have long since fallen into disrepair – are exquisite lighting, furniture and objects made from Murano glass.
The marble atrium at the exhibition's entrance was built in 1934 – when the building was first inaugurated – the shower stalls, where the exhibition unfolds, were added in 1953
The showcase, called ‘Two-Fold Silence’, is the first solo exhibition by contemporary Murano glass brand 6:AM, which has brought together new works alongside prototypes and restored historical pieces. 'Piscina Cozzi is an iconic Milanese landmark, a 1930s rationalist building whose architecture and history resonate with our work,' 6:AM founders Edoardo Pandolfo and Francesco Palù told Wallpaper*. 'The ex-public showers had been closed for over 40 years, and we wanted to reopen them to the city. That era is a significant reference for us, influencing much of our design.'
Edoardo Pandolfo and Francesco Palù set up 6:AM in 2018 to bring Murano glass to a new audience, working across everything from architectural installations to modular lighting, furniture and sculptural objects all made in close collaboration with Murano's master artisans. The studio’s name is a nod to those same glassmakers and the early hour at which they fire up their furnaces each day.
Originally designed by Aldo Nason for Mazzega in the 1970s, Pandolfo and Palù added neon light to this hand-blown glass sculpture
At Piscina Cozzi, Pandolfo and Palù have created a spellbinding juxtaposition of highly crafted glass against grimy tiles and crumbling walls, and a wonderful sense of intrigue and trepidation as you peer through the door of each cubicle; a wall-mounted cast Murano glass chandelier glows in the darkness of one, while a glass sculpture designed by Aldo Nason for Mazzega in the 1970s creeps across the floor in the next. Some pieces are casually propped against the wall, enhancing the show’s sense of accidental discovery.
A series of chandeliers run the length of the corridors creating columns of light and guiding visitors deeper into the space. To complete the transcendental experience, Pandolfo and Palù added a soundscape by Milan-based audiovisual producers Invernomuto to beguiling effect.
'The space is ideal for presenting our creative universe, including past projects, prototypes, new pieces, and our evolving archive,' Pandolfo and Palù explain. 'We've kept the space intact, letting it speak for itself and interact with our work. The approach isn’t systematic or overly curated – it's more like a stream of consciousness, allowing objects and ideas to flow naturally through the environment.'
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