Kohler unveils Flamingo Estate bathhouse at Milan Design Week

MILAN, April 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Kohler, in partnership with Richard Christiansen, founder of Flamingo Estate, presents a multi-sensory installation at Milan Design Week that invites visitors into an elemental world where architecture, landscape, and serenity are conceived as a single, interdependent experience, acting as conduits for contemplation and renewal.

Set within the courtyard of the Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea during Fuorisalone, the exhibition is anchored by a bold brutalist bathhouse that takes design cues from the prominent bathhouse nestled in the California hills of the Flamingo Estate property and showcases a new expression of an iconic Kohler freestanding enameled cast iron bath with a true metal shroud, strikingly presented in copper.

The tranquil showpiece draws its palette from weathered metals and elemental surfaces, as though it has emerged organically from its surroundings rather than being imposed upon them. Rising from a meadow of untamed wildflowers, the installation reflects a design philosophy rooted in reciprocity with nature.

The Flamingo Estate Bathhouse by Kohler elevates bathing into a restorative experience and a place of ritual and retreat, one that slows the body, quiets the mind, and heightens awareness of light, water, and material. At the center is the new Kohler Reverie enameled cast iron bath featuring a true metal copper shroud, bringing architectural precision and elemental richness to a heritage material while expanding its design language. The bath becomes the luminous heart of the space with its warm surfaces catching sunlight filtered through oversized stained-glass windows, while 200 Flamingo Estate candles adorn the bathhouse walls, enhancing the glow and deepening the sense of peaceful reflection.

The copper-clad form shown in Milan embodies Kohler's 153 years of genuine craftsmanship while signaling a bold new chapter in material innovation, where legacy techniques of forming, welding, and finishing done by hand, meet contemporary artistry to shape the future of bathing design.

Nestled throughout the wild garden are four one-of-a-kind pollinator baths – a concept conceived by Christiansen, designed by Kohler, and cast in its historic Wisconsin, USA foundry. Each uniquely formed vessel extends the installation narrative of reciprocity between human craft and the natural world, acting as sanctuaries for birds, bees, and other pollinating species. Through materials made to endure and gestures that support biodiversity, the pollinator baths reflect Kohler and Flamingo Estate's shared belief that sustainable living and wellbeing emerge when design honors the rhythms, needs, and poetic intelligence of nature.

The immersive collaborative setting emphasizes a passion for craft, culture, and way of living that finds sustainability in restraint and enduring wellness through communion with nature.

The Flamingo Estate Bathhouse by Kohler will be unveiled during FuoriSalone at the Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea, Via Palestro 14, 20121 Milan, Italy. The installation will be open to the public from Tuesday, April 21st through Sunday, April 26th, with hours as follows: Tuesday, 12:00–7:00 PM; Wednesday, 12:00–4:00 PM and 8:00–10:00 PM; Thursday through Saturday, 12:00–10:00 PM; and Sunday, 12:00–6:00 PM.

For imagery and more information, access the press kit here.