Nike Opens a Permanent Air Lab in Milan with 100 Unseen Prototypes

Nike and Dropcity, an emerging Milanese center for architecture and design, have unveiled Air Lab, a preview installation at Milan Design Week 2026 running April 20 through April 26 at Via Sammartini 72 in Milan. The space will convert into a permanent fixture of Dropcity when the center opens to the public this fall.

Air as a design material

The premise of Air Lab is treating Nike Air not as a product feature but as a design material to be studied, prototyped, and reinterpreted. The preview gives the global design community a one week look at approximately 100 never before seen Nike Air prototypes and material samples, tracing the development of Air Liquid Max, FlyWeb, Radical AirFlow, Therma FIT Air Milano, and other platform innovations.

A permanent lab, not a pop up

The installation occupies five disused railway tunnels inside Dropcity and is equipped with robotic arms and thermoforming machines hardware that stays after Design Week ends. The intent is to give students and working designers ongoing access to fabrication tools that are typically out of reach, positioning Air Lab as a long term creative resource for Milan’s design community rather than a brand event.

Golnaz Armin, Vice President Design Studio Excellence at Nike, explained, “Nike has always had an experimental, hands on culture of making, so on our first visit to Dropcity a year ago, it immediately felt both familiar and energizing… Prototyping is a daily practice an instinct to make, test and refine in real time, where ideas are meant to be worn, experienced and challenged through doing. As much as we embrace the latest digital capabilities, the craft of creating physical product through an iterative process remains essential.”

Andrea Caputo, Founder of Dropcity, added, “The Air Lab initiative advances an ambitious and unique vision, proposing that design and production can leave a tangible legacy for the city of Milan and for the community of designers and architects connected to it. The lab will be operated by Dropcity as a civic facility, accessible to the public. This initiative represents a concrete and forward looking commitment one that establishes a new model of collaboration between companies and research centers like Dropcity, generating meaningful social impact on both local and international levels.”

Why Milan, why now

Nike’s move into a permanent Milan design space reflects a broader industry trend of major sportswear brands investing in cultural credibility beyond product releases. Placing Air Lab inside an architecture and design institution rather than a retail environment positions the brand alongside the city’s academic and professional creative community ahead of what promises to be a heavily competitive second half of 2026.