Milan Design Week has been over for just over a month, but its aesthetics live on. More importantly, it continues to enter our homes. Among the installations that have been most talked about this year-not only for their visual impact but also for their meaning-is Il Sonno Supermarket, a project signed OMA/AMO for ROOM FOR DREAMS by designboom during Milan Design Week 2026. Hosted inside ME Milan Il Duca, the work transforms the familiar imagery of the supermarket into a material study dedicated to SolidNature’s expressive stone. An everyday place that is reinterpreted through a completely different lens: when we find ourselves in spaces like these, we rarely really reflect on what we observe or purchase and gestures become habitual, quick, taken for granted. The Sleep Supermarket challenges precisely this mechanism, contrasting the longevity of matter with systems dominated by speed and immediate consumption.
The contrast emerges immediately, both visually and through touch. Each object, while maintaining a playful and recognizable aesthetic, carries the weight of geological time. Set within a lightweight structure of translucent polycarbonate and metal beams, the installation immediately recalls the aesthetics of a supermarket, although each surface and element seems suspended in a slower, more permanent dimension.
Shelves carved from onyx, marble and other natural stones house rows of products reminiscent of common items: bottles, eggs, soaps and food packages look like everyday objects, only to turn out to be something completely different. The arrangement follows the classic logic of aisles and merchandise categories, making the path through the space intuitive, while the materiality introduces a more contemplative rhythm.
The choice to make everything from SolidNature stone radically changes the way this unusual supermarket designed by OMA/AMO is perceived. The surfaces show veining, transparency, and depth that change with natural light, especially when it passes through the undulating polycarbonate walls. The open-air metal structure allows glimpses of trees and sky, rooting the experience in Milan’s spring atmosphere.
The title recalls sleep, but the experience remains extremely physical and concrete. Here the perception of time is dilated through matter, rather than through a true narrative. And even though the installation has ended, the project continues to live on beyond Design Week: some of the objects on display can now be purchased online, turning into real domestic sculptures. A way to bring home not only a piece of design, but also a reflection on the value of the objects that surround us every day.
[📸 Instagram: samirbantal]
