With NikeAir_Lab, Nike and Dropcity introduce an innovative space for Milan Design Week 2026. Together, both partners offer the international design community an exclusive look into the past, present and future of Nike Air.

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There, visitors can explore samples, material studies and prototypes tracing the development of Air Liquid Max, FlyWeb, Radical AirFlow, Therma-FIT Air Milano and other innovations.

This fall, the concept will become a permanent public fixture within Dropcity.

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Registered guests gain access to eight interactive stations equipped with cutting-edge technology such as robotic arms, thermoforming machines and pneumatic systems.

Each station explores air as a creative medium in different ways: visualizing (air as evidence), forming (air as shape), deforming (air as transformation), pumping (air as expansion), suctioning (air as void), calibrating (air as impulse), cooling (air as subtraction) and blasting (air as force). Workshops led by Nike designers and Dropcity’s in-house team complete the program.

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Golnaz Armin, VP Design Studio Excellence at Nike, describes the approach as follows:

“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.”

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This mindset is also reflected in around 100 previously unseen prototypes curated by designers from across Nike’s different creative disciplines. Visitors are given a rare look into development processes, material testing and new ideas.

Another highlight is the Air Archives area within the installation’s five tunnel spaces. Rare concepts by Air inventor Frank Rudy, early studies of the Alphafly NEXT%, and exhibits connected to Faith Kipyegon and Hiroshi Fujiwara are on display there.

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After Design Week, the equipment will be integrated into Dropcity’s other workshop spaces. These include areas dedicated to robotics, model making, 3D printing, textiles, ceramics, woodworking and recycling.

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Andrea Caputo, architect and founder of Dropcity, says:

“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.”

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As part of a 20-year agreement with the city of Milan, Dropcity is set to become one of Europe’s largest architecture centers. Across more than 10,000 square meters, the space will offer exhibition areas and more than 300 workstations at discounted rates for architects, product designers, graphic designers and other creatives.

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César García, VP/GM Nike EMEA, said:

“Milan is a global hub for creativity, culture and design, and NikeAir_Lab reflects our continued investment in the city and the creative community that brings it to life.

Through partnerships like Dropcity, we’re creating spaces in Milan where innovation, design and sport intersect — and where ideas can move from imagination to reality.”

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NikeAir_Lab is on view through April 26 at Via Sammartini 72 in Milan as part of Milan Design Week 2026.

This fall, the project will open to the public as a permanent part of Dropcity.

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Photos via Nike