Just beyond the dense urban core of Milan, Alcova returned for its ninth edition during Design Week 2025, expanding into four distinct locations in Varedo. Among them, two newly added sites—the overgrown Pasino Glasshouses and the skeletal SNIA factory—offered fresh architectural backdrops that reinforced Alcova’s signature atmosphere of curated decay and industrial poetry. The scenography, as ever, was effective. The ruins spoke. Yet even amid these new spaces, a familiar rhythm persisted. Objects arranged in calculated contrast to their worn surroundings, the interplay between nature and construction precisely orchestrated. While visually captivating, the formula has become recognizable. What once embodied disruption now leans into repetition—less a challenge to the system than a codified aesthetic. Consistency has its value. But the question arises: are new settings alone enough to shift a format that increasingly feels locked into its own mythology?
Ahead of Upclose / A chat with MARRØN
Music | Interview
In the pulsating world of techno, few artists infuse rhythm with roots like MARRØN. Drawing from his rich Surinamese heritage and the unyielding spirit of the Maroon people, he transforms dance floors into spaces of remembrance, resistance, and radical joy. Ahead of his much-anticipated appearance at Upclose 2025, he continues to push boundaries through projects like NDYUKA, his storytelling podcast series, and Eerste Communie, the Sunday ritual that redefined Amsterdam’s party culture, he doesn’t just play music — he reclaims history, challenges norms, and amplifies voices often left unheard.
