While Milan Design Week is generally understood as a furniture fair, there’s always a strong presence of architectural finishes — bathroom tiles, resin floor coverings, various surface treatments — yet they’re usually relegated to the unsexy pavilions of the Rho Fiera fairgrounds. But for his latest presentation, the Milanese architect Massimiliano Locatelli has devised an artistic take on a humble material. Locatelli presents Glazed Bar (open now and throughout Milan Design Week), a takeover of the cocktail bar SiMa Townhouse (Corso di Porta Vigentina, 12), which sees the three-storey space overhauled with an installation of ceramic mosaic murals.
Milan Design Week 2026: step inside Massimiliano Locatelli's Glazed Bar
Mosaic murals, though out of vogue for the past several decades, have been around since the Roman era. If you’ve ever traipsed through the frozen-in-ash villas unearthed at the archaeological site of Pompeii, you would have seen the intricate patterns decorate the floors of open-air courtyards and the walls of communal bath houses. Or in the basilicas of Ravenna, known for their shimmering Byzantine mosaics.
The craft was common as recently as early 20th-century Milan, when architects would commission them to adorn the floors of the city’s famously ornately decorated entryways. For instance, Luigi Caccia Dominioni’s Galleria Strasburgo on Corso Europa, 10, which features a shooting star motif rendered in tiny squares of tile.
It’s a tradition Locatelli is seeking to revive through his adoption of the technique, which relies on skilled artisans in Vietnam. Working with ceramic fragments that are meticulously cut in varying shapes, sizes and colours, the craftspeople assemble wall-sized compositions of elaborate, pictorial scenes, which are then shipped ready to be installed in situ. 'They have this incredible three-dimensional surface,' Locatelli says, 'which gives the mural a tactile, sculptural quality.'
While the history of mosaic decoration is millennia old, Locatelli encountered the technique during a residential commission for a private client in Vietnam. 'I designed the house of the Prime Minister’s daughter and I had the chance to discover the best artisans in the country,' he explains. 'I found some old families with a deep knowledge of specific techniques: they were working for the Emperor back in the day. All of them, very proud of what they can do, have kept the magic of their hands, passing from father to son all their secrets and so being able to remain unique today. The ceramic puzzle technique was one of the family stories I discovered in my research.'
For the installation, Locatelli has devised three murals across the bar’s three floors. Visitors enter into the ground-floor bar area where a playful take on the drinks menu has been set against a background depicting the sky and clouds. The first floor offers a view of Milan’s historic Teatro alla Scala, rendering the red velvet boxes in minuscule ceramic tiles. And finally, on the uppermost level, Locatelli has created a bucolic farmyard scene, complete with pecking chickens and fruit-laden trees. 'It’s a trip through the building,' he says. 'From the sky to the countryside, stopping by at La Scala.'
SiMa Townhouse is located atCorso di Porta Vigentina 12, 20122, Milano. The bar will be open from 6 pm to 1 am 11–18 April 2026; and from 6 pm to 2 am 19–26 April 2026.