Colorful sculptural chairs and robotic fabrication equipment seen through a ruined factory doorway at PORTAL

Collection / Exhibition / Live fabrication

PORTAL.Alcova, Milan.

Ten original chairs and live robotic 3D printing at Alcova, Milan Design Week.

Collaboration: Decibel × Vizcom × Caracol
Location: Alcova, Varedo, Italy
Decibel’s role: Design development & fabrication
Exhibition: Milan Design Week 2025
Collection: Ten original chairs
Creative direction: Charles Birshaw

01 / The exhibition

A factory.
A new beginning.

Charles Birshaw’s exhibition design paired the collection with live production inside Alcova’s former SNIA textile factory.

Some concepts began with Vizcom’s AI-assisted tools. Decibel developed the geometry, materials and print strategies for Caracol’s robotic platform, considering recycled and bio-based materials piece by piece.

Explore Decibel Made

Red, yellow, dark and green sculptural chairs on plinths beside vegetation in the PORTAL exhibition — The collection in the former factory.

Green chair with curved seat and branching base on an illuminated exhibition plinth — One design language within the collection.

02 / A closer look

Making,
in the room.

From workshop preparation to live fabrication at the exhibition.

Two white sculptural chairs with metal arms in front of robotic equipment at Decibel — **Before Milan** The collection in Decibel’s New Jersey workshop.

A person preparing the exhibition beside a translucent teal chair and robotic cell — **In preparation** Preparing the installation at Alcova.

Tall Caracol robotic arm inside the industrial PORTAL exhibition space — **Live fabrication** Caracol’s Heron AM system inside the former factory.

Visitor seated beside the enclosed robotic fabrication system and display screens at PORTAL. — Visitors encountered the fabrication cell as part of the exhibition.

03 / In place

An idea can travel.
Making can be local.

The winning entry in Vizcom’s global furniture design competition was printed live, exploring how digital designs can be produced locally, on demand.

Why large-format printing?

At Alcova

Objects in their element.

The PORTAL collection on illuminated plinths at dusk. — The collection after dusk.

Translucent teal Cloud chair exhibited at PORTAL, Alcova. — Cloud Chair / Light through the printed surface.

Crystal chair on an illuminated plinth at PORTAL, Alcova. — Crystal Chair / Form and layered texture.

Project credits
& material notes

Collaboration: Decibel × Vizcom × Caracol
Exhibition design & creative direction: Charles Birshaw
Fabrication & production: Decibel
Robotic technology: Caracol
Venue: Alcova, former SNIA factory, Varedo

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PORTAL.Alcova, Milan.

A factory.A new beginning.

Making,in the room.

An idea can travel.Making can be local.