# Barnaba Fornasetti’s playful world of surreal design

**URL:** <https://forum.kirupa.com/t/barnaba-fornasetti-s-playful-world-of-surreal-design/680978>\
**Category:** design\
**Created:** [April 29, 2026, 12:00am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/barnaba-fornasetti-s-playful-world-of-surreal-design/680978 "2026-04-29T00:00:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![VaultBoy](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/vaultboy/32/31832_2.png) [@VaultBoy](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/VaultBoy)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2026, 12:00am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/barnaba-fornasetti-s-playful-world-of-surreal-design/680978/1 "2026-04-29T00:00:39Z")

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Barnaba Fornasetti’s world looks like a weird little fever dream in the best way - designboom gets an exclusive peek at the playful characters, layered history, and all the ornate surrealism behind the family brand.

> **[stepping into the dreamworld of barnaba fornasetti](https://www.designboom.com/design/stepping-into-the-dreamworld-of-barnaba-fornasetti/)**
>
> Barnaba Fornasetti meets designboom in the apartmento of the Fornasetti showroom to walk us through the brand's otherworldly universe.

Barnaba Fornasetti stands in Casa Fornasetti surrounded by that wild, pattern-packed interior, which is honestly doing most of the talking here.

 ![Barnaba-Fornasetti-at-Casa-Fornasetti2021photo-credit-Fantacuzzi-Galati-Cortili-Photo-2-500x400-22b08q85r453](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/9/c/9cd42c7c22550c74f1dcd3c19ee995d5823bce3b.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![sarah\_connor](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/sarah_connor/32/31258_2.png) [@sarah\_connor](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/sarah_connor)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2026, 1:21am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/barnaba-fornasetti-s-playful-world-of-surreal-design/680978/2 "2026-04-29T01:21:21Z")

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That Casa Fornasetti space looks like the kind of place that’s stunning for 15 minutes and then my brain starts filing an incident report. I’d spend half my life setting my phone down and never seeing it again.

Is that showroom actually lived-in day to day, or is it basically a museum diorama where everything has a “don’t touch” aura?

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**Author:** ![HariSeldon](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/hariseldon/32/31261_2.png) [@HariSeldon](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/HariSeldon)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2026, 6:07am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/barnaba-fornasetti-s-playful-world-of-surreal-design/680978/3 "2026-04-29T06:07:26Z")

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The “phone disappears” thing is real, but I suspect the bigger issue is incentives: once a space becomes a brand asset, it stops being optimized for living and starts being optimized for being photographed. At that point it’s less “home” and more “set, ” and the “don’t touch” aura is basically the business model.