a supermarket cast in designboom’s installation in Milan
SolidNature presents Il Sonno Supermarket, designed by OMA/AMO for designboom’s ROOM FOR A DREAM during Milan Design Week 2026. The project can be discovered at ME Milan Il Duca and transforms the familiar market into a study of the expressive of SolidNature stone. Within a lightweight structure of translucent polycarbonate and metal trusses, the installation immediately reads as a supermarket, although each surface and object reframes the themes under a veil of permanence.
Shelves carved from onyx, marble and other natural stones hold rows of products that look like everyday objects. Bottles, eggs, bars of soap and packaged food look recognizable at first glance, but then reveal themselves to be something else entirely. The layout follows the logic of aisles and product categories, allowing the intuition of movement within the space, while the material state introduces a slower pace.
images © Giuseppe Miotto / Marco Cappelletti Studio
a translucent veil with solid stone settings
The decision to build everything from SolidNature the stone changes how this unusual OMA/AMO-the designed supermarket is understandable. The surfaces are veined, translucency and depth captured by the changing daylight, especially as it filters through the striated polycarbonate walls. The overhead truss system frames the outdoor setting, while the trees and sky remain visible, so that the space lands in the seasonal atmosphere of Milan.
David Mahyari of SolidNature describes this approach as a shift in value: ‘Natural stone introduces a different sense of value, rooted in sustainability, durability and authenticity.In this context, the facility pits hardware longevity against speed-driven systems. Contrast is immediate through touch and sight, and each playful object bears the weight of geological time.
SolidNature and OMA/AMO present Il Sonno supermarket during Milan Design Week 2026
frozen drinking gestures
With the strange supermarket in Milan, designboom, SolidNature and OMA/AMO are based on a simple observation about behavior. ‘Nobody thinks when they shop, it’s pure reflex,‘ says AMO’s Samir Pillow. In Il Sonno supermarket, this reflex is kept in place. Products become fixed gestures that are removed from use and retained at the moment of recognition.
This post creates a subtle change in the way the space is read. A visit moves from navigation to observation, with attention to edges, finishes and repetition of forms. Mirrored surfaces embedded along the perimeter extend the corridors and fold visitors into the screen and serve to contrast movement alongside stillness.
The shelves and grocery items are carved entirely from natural stone
a dream state based on construction
The title of the installation suggests sleep, yet the experience remains direct and natural. Time seems to stretch through material rather than narrative. Samir Badal frames it as ‘the interval between recognizing an object and realizing that it has solidified,describing a situation where a transient environment becomes stable.
Lighting and sound enhance this reading. Fluorescent lighting creates an intimate retail atmosphere, while ambient sound moves between background music and intermittent announcements. These slogans maintain the logic of a supermarket, even when the material palette pulls the experience in another direction.
the layout follows the supermarket aisles to guide intuitive movement
against the backdrop of polycarbonate walls, mirrored panels expand the space
project information:
name: The Sleep Supermarket
stone: SolidNature | @solid_nature
event: ROOM FOR A DREAM
location: I Milan The DukePiazza della Repubblica, 13, 20124 Milan MI
dates: 21 – 26 April 2026 (public days: 21-26 April)
opening hours: 10:00 – 20:00 daily
photo: © Giuseppe Miotto / Marco Cappelletti Studio
This article is part of designboom’s Dreams in Motion chapter, which explores what happens when we treat our dreams and daydreams as an active, radical rehearsal for impending material realities. Explore more related stories here.
