Gioco Shapes Creative Spaces for All Ages

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If you’ve ever built a blanket fort, you know the magic of carving out a world of your own. Whether it was as a kid or alongside your own children, there’s something special about tapping into your imagination to transform the ordinary into wonder. Gioco is the grown-up version of that world. Designed by French design studio smarin for Triennale Milano – the city’s landmark design museum and cultural hub – the modular system transforms simple cork and spruce into anything you want them to be: a desk, a stage, a quiet corner, or an evolving playground. Part furniture, part building kit, it’s a living, ever-changing space that invites kids and adults alike to play and create without rules or boundaries.

Minimalist room with modular wooden and cork furniture, including tables, benches, stools, and stacked blocks; some surfaces hold cups filled with pencils

The heart of Gioco is the open-ended question of invention, but with an emphasis on collectivity. It’s not just about what we can build, but what we can build together. This is the spirit of the Triennale, a place where people come to learn, experiment, and create side by side. Gioco doesn’t prescribe the answers but leaves them to the players, inviting everyone to co-author the space.

A room features a sculptural partition wall and doorway made of interlocking geometric cork blocks with hexagonal cutouts, set against a plain interior backdrop

A minimalist concrete bench with geometric, block-like supports is displayed against a plain, light background

Gioco can be assembled into limitless configurations without a single nail or screw. Modular cork blocks and spruce tabletops, chosen for their durability and ecological qualities, allow users to build intuitively with minimal limitations. Wooden dowels allow pieces to connect in new ways, like forming a clothes rack, while padded cushions add comfort and softness to the system. This polytypological and reversible furniture system (RSP) is capable of transforming entire rooms – a workshop one moment, a dance studio, movie room, play area, or lounge the next. When stacked vertically, the cork blocks also double as a layer of sound and heat insulation. By building, stacking, and reshaping the system, visitors practice collaboration as much as creation, turning design into a dynamic shared experiment.

Two people are assembling or stacking large, brown cardboard boxes in a bright, minimalist room with wooden flooring

Minimalist room with modular wooden furniture, including a table, bench, and seating, set on a light wood floor against a white wall

Spacious room with cork geometric furniture, neutral cushions, wooden floor, large windows with green curtains, and minimalist white walls

By bringing Gioco to the Triennale, smarin offers a model for what creative spaces can be: adaptable, ecological, and designed to spark collective imagination across all ages.

Minimalist room with light wooden floors, white walls, and modular cork and wood furniture arranged as desks, benches, and stools; some yellow pencils in holders on tables

Three people sit on cushioned seating arranged in tiered rows in a bright, modern room with white walls and wooden floor

A woman sits alone on a large, cushioned wooden bench in a minimalist room with white walls and a wooden floor

A woman sits alone on a modern, minimalist wooden bench with white cushions in a bright, spacious room with light wood flooring

Several cushioned lounge chairs with wooden bases are arranged in a sunlit room with light wood flooring and large windows covered by sheer curtains

A room with rows of low, padded beige lounge seats on wooden platforms, arranged in a stepped formation, with white walls and minimal decor

Modular wooden seating made from stacked rectangular blocks with white seat cushions and pillows in a minimalist indoor setting

A minimalist room with modular, light brown block seating arranged in rows, each topped with white cushions, and a projector mounted on the ceiling

A minimalist room with modular, light brown block seating arranged in rows, each topped with white cushions, and a projector mounted on the ceiling

Minimalist room with light wood floors, white walls, and modular wooden seating units with beige cushions arranged in rows. Ceiling lights and large windows with sheer curtains in background

Modular furniture made of stacked cardboard and beige cushions is arranged against a white wall in a minimalist room with light wood flooring

A minimalistic room with modular wooden tables and benches, cork block supports, a pink bench, and small scattered objects on the surfaces

A modern, minimalist room with modular wooden shelving and seating units, light wood flooring, white walls, and coats hanging on the racks

Two people are in a minimalist room with geometric wooden furniture; one woman sits behind a hexagonal shelf, while another stands by a table in the background

A minimalist room with light wood flooring, two cushioned chairs, a central column with stacked boxes, two desks, and large windows with sheer and green curtains

Two cushioned lounge chairs and a small matching side table made of light-colored wood are arranged on a wooden floor against a plain white wall

A person sits on a modular, cushioned lounge chair made of wooden panels with a pillow, next to a small box-shaped side table in a minimalist room

Modular furniture set including a cushioned chair, a small side table, and a three-shelf unit, all made from geometric wooden panels in a minimalist room

Five rectangular wooden boards with circular holes are arranged vertically behind four cork blocks, also with holes, on a light wood floor against a white wall

To learn more about Gioco by smarin, visit smarin.net.

Photography courtesy of smarin.

As the Senior Contributing Editor, Vy Yang is obsessed with discovering ways to live well + with intention through design. She’s probably sharing what she finds over on Instagram stories. You can also find her at vytranyang.com.





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