Salone 2026 delivers plenty of showstoppers, but this immersive installation design might be the one everyone’s talking about. At Giardino delle Arti, Arket has teamed up with artist Laila Gohar to launch their new collaboration, and they’re doing it by transforming the oldest carousel in Italy, believed to date from the late 1700s, into a spinning still life of oversized fruit and vegetables.

A split pear becomes a scooped-out armchair. An eggplant leans into its curves. A pomegranate sits open-faced, seeds and all. Each form keeps its dignity, solid, saturated, unmistakably itself, then quietly invites you to climb in.

The antique structure does the rest. Gilded panels, storybook crests, and a canopy of bare bulbs hum above the fruit like a carnival that wandered into a still life painting. It’s theatrical without tipping into kitsch, nostalgic without the cobwebs.

As a collection launch, it’s wildly smart. Gohar trades the runway for a fairground, turning a capsule debut into a public ride. This is the kind of immersive installation design that translates beautifully beyond Milan, think boutique hotel courtyards, rooftop activations, or a sculptural moment inside a flagship retail space. Playful, shareable, scaled for a crowd.

_{Images Courtesy of Arket}