MM Design × Xlam Dolomiti: Kiri³ at Fuorisalone
The Fuorisalone 2026 posed a question: what are we made of, and what do we want to build? MM Design and Xlam Dolomiti chose to answer it with a project.
KIRI³ makes its debut in the Cortile d'Onore of the Università degli Studi di Milano: a 4-metre cube built in SUPERTIMBER, at the heart of one of the most sought-after venues of Milan Design Week. This year's Fuorisalone theme is Materiae: matter not as surface or style, but as the substance of design. Starting point and destination at once. The name is already a manifesto: KIRI³ merges Kiri (the Japanese name for Paulownia), a sacred tree symbolising the connection between earth and sky, and the cube, the third geometric power. Matter, form and meaning in a single word.
MM Design and Xlam Dolomiti did not divide their roles: they asked the same question. The result is an installation in which the entire narrative is entrusted to the material itself: no cladding, no finishes. A lattice structure with reduced thicknesses impossible to achieve with any other timber. At its centre, a stylised Paulownia emerges as a sculptural element.
The protagonist is SUPERTIMBER: patented by Xlam Dolomiti with the Fondazione Bruno Kessler, it exceeds 1,000 kg/m³ in density, achieves mechanical strength comparable to steel, and carries a negative carbon footprint. KIRI³ is not a theoretical demonstration: it is built, walkable, real. KIRI³ follows Kirizuna, the seating system presented by MM Design and Xlam Dolomiti at the ADI Design Museum: two projects, one shared vision.
KIRI³ | MM Design × Xlam Dolomiti
Cortile d'Onore, Università degli Studi di Milano
On 23 April, from 15:30 to 16:30, MM Design and Xlam Dolomiti open the conversation: a round table on SUPERTIMBER, sustainable design and the future of construction. Join us at the Aula di Rappresentanza del Senato Accademico, Università degli Studi di Milano.
