IQOS World Revealed by Alex Chinneck, Milan Design Week 2019, Milan, Italy
The building
that unzipped
Alex Chinneck · “IQOS World Revealed”, 2019 · Spazio Quattrocento, Opificio 31, Via Tortona 31, Milan
Photo as published on Street Art Utopia
For six days in April 2019, what looked like an old Milanese building in the courtyard of Opificio 31 on Via Tortona seemed to unzip at one corner, its orange plaster curling away to show light behind. British artist Alex Chinneck made it for IQOS, the heated-tobacco brand of Philip Morris International, during Milan Design Week. The old facade was fake: a new skin of steel and painted polystyrene fitted over a real building, and on show only from 9 to 14 April 2019.
4 things to know
- The “historic” facade was a costumeDomus called it a false facade made from details of the surrounding streets, down to the graffitied shutters and aged plaster. The firm that built it says it covered 17 by 10 metres of the front and stood 4.5 metres deep. A curved steel piece weighing three tonnes made the peeling corner, and most of the rest was CNC-milled polystyrene, painted and aged with fake patina. Domus · satis&fy
- Made in Germany, trucked to MilanArtribune reported that most of the work was done in a factory in Germany, with a team of about a hundred people. The builder, satis&fy, says its workshops in Karben, Werne, Berlin and Hilversum made the parts, fifteen trucks took them to Milan, and a 70-strong crew spent two and a half weeks installing them. Artribune · satis&fy
- The zip carried on insideInside, a half-circle of the concrete floor seemed to peel back over white light, and a zip ran down the middle of a wall, which sagged open to show light behind it. Il Foglio compared the floor piece to the top of a can and the wall to a shirt, with lights that changed every minute. Dezeen · Il Foglio
- A tobacco company’s metaphorFor Philip Morris, the zip stood for its move towards smoke-free products. Frederic de Wilde, president of its EU region, told Domus: “We’ve tried to unzip conventional thinking to come up with a transformative vision for our company and our industry that gives smokers a better alternative.” It was the company’s third year at Milan Design Week. Domus
Check-in guide
- 📍
- Spazio Quattrocento, inside Opificio 31, Via Tortona 31, 20144 Milan, in the Tortona design district (Dezeen, Domus). The company that manages the site describes Quattrocento as a 380 m² former industrial space, immediately visible as you enter the courtyard (Milano Space Makers).
- ⏳
- The zip is gone. It was shown from 9 to 14 April 2019, with a press preview on 8 April (Fuorisalone). A photo on the venue’s Quattrocento listing, taken on 5 January 2026, shows a plain pale grey gabled building with a large black door and no zip.
- 🧭
- The Maps button uses OpenStreetMap’s address point for Via Tortona 31, at the street entrance. Quattrocento faces the courtyard and has no door onto the street (Milano Space Makers).
- 🎨
- Opificio 31 rents its spaces for events. During design week it hosts Tortona Rocks, whose 11th edition ran from 20 to 26 April 2026 (Milano Space Makers).
Sightings
- 20198 Apr
designboom report, press-preview day (photos: Marc Wilmot)
- 20199 Apr
Opening; Dezeen, Domus, Artribune
- 201910 Apr
Venue photo of the wall zip inside
- 201914 Apr
Last day of the show
- 20265 Jan
Venue photo: plain facade
Every stamp links to the dated source. The two venue photos are in the gallery of the Quattrocento listing; their dates come from the camera data in the image files.
On the record
Alex Chinneck unzips a building in Milan’s Tortona district
“Through the repeated use of the zipper, we have opened up the fabric of a seemingly historic Milanese building to playfully reimagine what lies behind its facade, floors and walls.”
Alex Chinneck, in Augusta Pownall’s report, which calls it the artist’s first project in Italy.
Alex Chinneck unzips the façade at Opificio 31
“The false facade is an amalgam of references drawn from the surrounding streets and is rendered with impressive accuracy, down to the graffitied shutters and aged plasterwork.”
Alyn Griffiths, who also wrote that the illusion “dominates the courtyard at Spazio Quattrocento”.
Illusioni d’artista al Fuorisalone. Alex Chinneck per IQOS (An artist’s illusions at the Fuorisalone: Alex Chinneck for IQOS)
“L’edificio è grande, e l’intervento piuttosto teatrale, è vero, però volevo che il mio lavoro si integrasse nell’ambiente circostante, tipicamente milanese. L’obiettivo era animare la situazione, non dominarla”.
“The building is big, and the intervention fairly theatrical, it’s true, but I wanted my work to blend into its typically Milanese surroundings. The aim was to liven up the situation, not to dominate it.” Chinneck to Giulia Marani at the presentation.
Due progetti da non perdere al Fuori Salone (Two projects not to miss at the Fuorisalone)
“Ho voluto ribaltare la percezione di ciò che è possibile”
“I wanted to overturn the perception of what is possible.” Chinneck to Giuseppe Fantasia, adding that the zip let them open a building that looked traditional and imagine, with irony, what might hide behind its facade.
IQOS World revealed by Alex Chinneck
“Covering 17 by 10 meters of the façade, the exterior artwork was 4.5 meters deep.”
The events firm that built and installed the work, describing it as “designed to wrap the building in a new envelope”. It says the project won a gold BrandEx Award in 2020.
The facts
- Artist
- Alex Chinneck, British sculptor, born 1984 in Bedford (Artribune listing, Dezeen) Checked
- Title
- “IQOS World Revealed by Alex Chinneck” (Domus, Artribune, Fuorisalone, designboom, satis&fy); the capitals vary from source to source. The work is not listed in the project index on the artist’s own site, checked on 5 October 2026 Checked
- Commission
- IQOS, Philip Morris International’s smoke-free brand, for Milan Design Week 2019 (Domus, Fuorisalone) Checked
- Dates
- 9–14 April 2019, open 10:00–21:00 (18:00 on the last day), with a press preview on 8 April. Dezeen and Fuorisalone give 8–14 April; Fuorisalone lists 8 April as the press preview (Fuorisalone, Domus) Checked
- Place
- Spazio Quattrocento, Opificio 31, Via Tortona 31, Milan, part of the Tortona Rocks programme (Domus, Artribune, Il Sole 24 Ore). Fuorisalone gives the address as “Officina 31”, another space at the same number Checked
- The facade
- A new, false front over the building facing the courtyard, styled on old Milanese architecture (Domus, the Artribune event listing, satis&fy). Dezeen and My Modern Met put its width at 17 metres Checked
- Size, material
- 17 × 10 m and 4.5 m deep; a three-tonne curved steel piece; mostly CNC-milled polystyrene, painted and aged. All from the builder’s own page Reported
- Builder
- satis&fy, an events and staging firm with workshops in Germany and the Netherlands, says Philip Morris hired it to build and install the work. Artribune’s mention of a factory in Germany fits Reported
- The floor
- Dezeen and My Modern Met: Chinneck excavated and re-poured the entire concrete floor. satis&fy: its team cut an 80 × 100 cm hole in the foundation and built a 220 m² raised floor, finished by hand with 11 tonnes of dry screed to look like concrete. We lean towards the builder’s more detailed account Conflicting
- Build time
- Artribune: made in only five weeks. satis&fy: eight weeks of pre-production, then two and a half weeks of installing in Milan. Both may be counting different stages Conflicting
- Visitors
- satis&fy claims 200,000 visitors, in a page that also calls the event “Milan Fashion Week” by mistake. On the opening day, urdesignmag wrote that more than 50,000 were expected. No count from the organisers was found Unconfirmed
- Photo
- Photographer not known. The press photos in My Modern Met’s, designboom’s and New Atlas’s reports, and on the builder’s page, are credited to Marc Wilmot; whether ours is one of them is not confirmed Unconfirmed
- Removal
- No source gives the day the facade was taken down; the show closed on 14 April 2019 Unconfirmed
- Status
- Gone. It was a temporary design-week installation. The venue’s Quattrocento listing shows other events inside in 2022 and 2024, and a photo taken on 5 January 2026 of a plain gabled building with no zip Checked
Related
- On Street Art Utopia: Imagination Took Over (8 Photos) (3 October 2026), where the photo above appeared.
- Chinneck’s earlier facade trick: a brick house front that seemed to slide into its garden in Margate, 2013. Artwork File
- Another of his short-lived buildings: the wax-brick house that melted on Southwark Street, London, in 2014. Artwork File
- His upside-down electricity pylon on Greenwich Peninsula, which stood from 2015 to 2025. Artwork File
All sources (18)
This installation
- Dezeen: “Alex Chinneck unzips a building in Milan’s Tortona district”, 9 April 2019. By Augusta Pownall.
- Domus: “Alex Chinneck unzips the façade at Opificio 31”, 9 April 2019. By Alyn Griffiths. Title, brand, place, opening dates 9–14 April.
- Artribune: “Illusioni d’artista al Fuorisalone. Alex Chinneck per IQOS”, 9 April 2019. By Giulia Marani. Interview at the presentation; five weeks, factory in Germany.
- Artribune: “IQOS World revealed by Alex Chinneck”, event listing, 9–14 April 2019. Press text on the new facade; the artist’s birth year and town.
- Il Foglio: “Due progetti da non perdere al Fuori Salone”, 8 April 2019. By Giuseppe Fantasia.
- designboom: “alex chinneck ‘unzips’ a building’s traditional façade for milan design week”, 8 April 2019. Photos by Marc Wilmot.
- My Modern Met: “Sculptor ‘Unzips’ a Building in Milan for Mind-Bending Art Installation”, 10 April 2019. By Jessica Stewart.
- Il Sole 24 Ore: Fuorisalone 2019 guide to ten things to see in Zona Tortona, 9 April 2019 (in Italian).
- New Atlas: “Alex Chinneck makes an ordinary building extraordinary with unzipped facade”, 11 April 2019.
- Creative Boom: “Alex Chinneck unveils his latest ‘unzipped’ building at this year’s Milan Design Week”, 10 April 2019.
- urdesignmag: “Alex Chinneck Unzips Old Building Facade For Milan Design Week”, 9 April 2019. Largely the same wording as Dezeen, so not counted as independent; source of the 50,000 forecast.
- Fuorisalone.it: IQOS World “Revealed” by Alex Chinneck, 2019 event archive. Dates, opening hours, brand.
- Zero: “IQOS World revealed by Alex Chinneck”, event listing from 8 April 2019, Spazio Quattrocento.
- satis&fy: “IQOS World revealed by Alex Chinneck”, undated project page of the builder. Size, materials, crew, visitor claim.
The place
- Milano Space Makers: Opificio 31 – Quattrocento, venue listing, checked 5 October 2026. Description and photo gallery, including the inside zip (camera date 10 April 2019) and the exterior (camera date 5 January 2026).
- Milano Space Makers: home page, checked 5 October 2026. Tortona Rocks 2026, 20–26 April.
- OpenStreetMap: address point for Via Tortona 31, 45.4515, 9.1619.
The artist
- Alex Chinneck: artist’s website, checked 5 October 2026. The project index does not list the Milan work.
Artwork File · Last checked 5 October 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files