Collaborative Installation at Milan Design Week 2026 Features Brutalist Bathhouse

During Milan Design Week 2026, from April 20 to 26, an installation titled The Flamingo Estate Bathhouse will be presented at the Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea in Milan, Italy. This project is a joint effort between Richard Christiansen, founder of the Los Angeles lifestyle brand Flamingo Estate, and the design-focused company Kohler. The exhibit responds to a growing interest in thermal bathing and sauna culture globally, coinciding with the Salone Internazionale del Bagno event at the Rho Fairground. The installation centers on a copper-clad brutalist structure inspired by a bathhouse on Christiansen's California property, which he constructed after acquiring the site in 2013 and modeled after an ancient Persian fortress known as a place for rest and bathing. In Milan, the bathhouse is integrated into a courtyard with weathered metal cladding and features stained-glass windows, over 200 candles, and a new polished-copper version of Kohler's freestanding enamelled cast iron bath. Additionally, four unique pollinator baths designed by Kohler's design director JB Han are placed in a wild garden; these cast iron pieces have geometric patterns to aid birds, bees, and insects. Christiansen describes the original bathhouse as a personal ritual space for reconnecting with nature, and the Milan iteration aims to translate that calm into a bustling urban setting. Han notes that the collaboration explores how design can foster connections to elemental experiences and support ecological systems, shifting focus from human-centered use to coexistence with other living beings. The project also reflects Flamingo Estate's ethos of regenerative practices, as water from the California bathhouse irrigates gardens, inspiring a line of shampoos and body washes. The installation encourages visitors to slow down and reconsider their relationship with the natural world through design.