Let’s be honest, you can have a beautifully furnished home featuring the most collectible design pieces, but if you have coffee table books with no soul – I’m sorry to tell you – you ruin everything. (Yes, I’m talking about the Assouline Travel Series!) So, if you still have them in your living room, I’ll show you what else you could put there. Here are some of my book and magazine highlights spotted at Milano Design Week:

Jil Sander & Apartamento did this amazing installation with studioutte called Reference Library. The motto says it all: “Sixty books. Sixty perspectives”.

Miyako Bellizzi chose Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black by Cookie Mueller for the ‘library’ and this is why:

This book, and the culmination of her writing as a whole, inspires me as an artist, as she lived a full life with no remorse. It sets a reminder in my head on the importance of experience. Her energy for life and living in the full sense of the word inspires me to do the same. To being open to experiences, to living life without regret, and to trust the universe. Her life was a true cinematic experience.

Already on my reading list since a long time, but Miyako made me want to start it right NOW.

Capsule magazine is a no-brainer (the latest issue features Tadao Ando). The founder, Alessio Ascari, always hosts one of the best events during MDW with Capsule Plaza. Also this year, their design selection did not disappoint. That said, I spent most of my time flipping through Michele Lamy by Edward Bess and other Just An Idea books in the ‘Reading Room’ designed by noo.ma.

While enjoying a panino (some say the best panino) at Bar Quadronno, I came across a copy of Edicola Italiana – the first free newspaper by NSS EDICOLA – which immediately stole my heart. I have a soft spot for newsstands and often daydream about owning one myself. The publication explores the cultural significance of the edicola, the nostalgia it evokes, and how some of Milan’s key figures in contemporary design – Formafantasma, Alcova, Stefano Boeri, and Forgotten Architecture – envision its future.

Italy Segreta invited for drinks at Camparino, launching How Italy Feels: Through the Lens, Region by Region. With a Campari shakerato in one hand and the book in the other, I admired this authentic representation of my favourite country (am I allowed to say this?). I immediately opened the chapter on Lazio, the place that still feels like home to me after living there for seven years. Another favourite is Campania, seen through the lens of Eleonora D’Angelo, whose photographs I adore.