Poliform and Yabu Pushelberg Unveil “Solstice” Exhibit in Shanghai

MILAN — Less than a year after debuting their first collaboration, Poliform and Yabu Pushelberg are setting out to enchant China.

On Friday, the Italian design firm and the New York- and Toronto-based firm founded by George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg will unveil “Solstice,” an immersive installation in Shanghai that celebrates the brands’ ongoing partnership that started this year. The exhibition will unfold in a seasonal sequence through a unique experience at the Yard 200, located in the city’s Channing district.

The exhibition moves through the four seasons. Spring’s botanical setting centers on the Lanai bed. Winter pairs Aqualuna armchairs with snow and mirrored blue flooring. Summer showcases Poliform armchairs in reflective setting. And Autumn unfolds in a private lounge of warm, earthy materials. Together, the spaces evoke the cyclical rhythm of Solstice through shifting light and atmosphere. Poliform first showcased the Lanai and Aqualuna armchairs during Milan Design Week in April.

“Just as Lanai repositions the bedroom as a holistic environment rather than simply a place for sleep, the installation reimagines the showroom as a dynamic setting rather than a static display,” Yabu said of the exhibit, which was envisaged around the sculptural elegance of the Lanai bed.

Despite the ongoing real estate and retail slowdown in China, Yabu Pushelberg has remained active in China, helping fuel the nation’s ongoing design renaissance and hospitality boom.

With recent advancements in smart home technologies, a rediscovery of traditional craftsmanship and a rekindling of national pride, the number of Chinese luxury furniture brands is expected to rise in the near term, boosted in part by the participation of foreign voices in the evolution of local brands.

In 2025, Yabu Pushelberg unveiled the renovation of The Muli Palace, situated inside a 500-year-old Ming Dynasty temple just east of Beijing’s Forbidden Palace complex. Muli is a well-known Chinese company that makes furniture and storage, bath and kitchen systems.

Yabu Pushelberg’s other hospitality projects include Conrad Shenzhen, Park Hyatt Shenzhen, for interiors, styling and custom product design; Rosewood Guangzhou, for interiors, art advisory, lighting, styling and custom product design, and guest rooms and suites at W Guangzhou.

Recent furniture collaborations in China include Stellar Works, which makes its furniture in Shanghai and operates under the creative advisory of renowned architects Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu of Neri & Hu.

A New Chapter

Poliform’s chief executive officer Marco Spinelli said the exhibition is symbolic of “a new, important chapter” for the brand, adding that Yabu Pushelberg infuses a “fresh perspective” into the family-run firm founded in 1970 in Brianza, Italy. Together they have the potential to push boundaries, Pushelberg reflected.

“When selecting a partner, we look for brands that share our values and a genuine curiosity about where design is going. Poliform is a master of sophistication and craft, but what made this debut so compelling was a mutual desire to push boundaries.”