A showroom usually asks you to look. Solstice asks you to walk, linger and feel the weather change. Staged at YARD 200 in Shanghai on November 13 and 14, 2026, the installation by Yabu Pushelberg for Poliform converts a single venue into a full year, moving visitors through spring, winter, summer and autumn in a matter of minutes. It is the first public chapter of a partnership between the Toronto and New York studio and the Brianza furniture house, and it makes a clear point: the two are not interested in displaying product on plinths.
Year Folded Into One Walk
The premise is simple and the execution is anything but. Rather than presenting furniture as isolated objects, Solstice places each piece inside the cycle of the seasons, focusing on the in-between moments when one climate gives way to the next. Textures and surfaces are pared back to their most essential forms, suggesting the shift in air, light and temperature without illustrating it literally. The result reads as a dreamlike, almost weightless setting where the new Yabu Pushelberg designs for Poliform sit within atmosphere rather than in front of it.
Entry is through an exterior garden lined with mirrored walls, a threshold that pulls visitors inward and quietly dissolves the line between outside and inside. From there, the main gallery opens onto Spring. The Lanai bed system anchors the room, partly veiled by a composed landscape of green-toned florals and dense botanicals, as if the bedroom were being reclaimed by a garden.
Glacier, Water and Earth
The adjoining galleries push the contrast. Winter arrives as snow drifting across a deep-blue mirrored floor that recalls a glacier, with the Aqualuna armchairs gathered at its center. Summer answers with a second pair of armchairs resting on a reflective pool, framed by wild grasses that soften the geometry. Same silhouette, two opposite climates, and the chair reads differently in each. For anyone following the evolution of the chair as a sculptural object, it is a useful demonstration of how a single form can shift in character with its surroundings.
Behind the main gallery, a private VIP lounge stands in for Autumn. Warm, earth-toned materials close the loop, balancing the extremes of winter and summer against the renewal of spring and the depth of the final season. Moving light and shadow guide the route, and a lighting and sound program sharpens each transition. The audio is deliberately restrained, a low echo of natural ambience that works beneath conscious attention and deepens the sense of immersion without ever becoming a feature of its own.
The Pieces at the Center
Two products carry the narrative. The Lanai bed system treats the bedroom as a complete environment rather than a place reduced to sleep. A modular platform bed combines with integrated storage, seating and case goods, building a broader setting around rest and daily ritual. Aqualuna contributes the opposite energy: a soft, enveloping armchair that appears in both the winter and summer scenes and gives the sequence its tactile counterpoint.
George Yabu links the exhibition directly to the collection’s thinking. “Solstice began with the same question that shaped the Lanai collection: what happens when boundaries begin to dissolve? 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.”
Why Shanghai, and Why Now
The choice of city was strategic. Marco Spinelli, CEO of Poliform, describes the launch as the start of a new chapter: “Our collaboration with Yabu Pushelberg marks the beginning of an important new chapter for Poliform. We were looking for a partner who could bring a fresh perspective to our idea of living, and we found that in Yabu Pushelberg, one of the world’s leading design studios. As this partnership is so important to us, we wanted to give it the attention it deserves by celebrating its launch with a big event. Shanghai was the natural choice. Yabu Pushelberg has a strong presence in this market, which is now one of the most important and fast-growing for high-end design. It was the perfect place to introduce the first project of our journey together.”
He adds a note of intent for what follows: “I believe this is only the beginning. We share the same approach to design based on research, a strong culture, and the desire to create products that last over time. We see great potential in this partnership and look forward to developing new projects together that reflect the changing way people live.”
For Glenn Pushelberg, the appeal lies in shared appetite as much as shared standards. “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.”
Two Houses, One Direction
The pairing makes sense on paper. Poliform was founded in 1970 in the Brianza furniture district, growing out of a family artisan workshop that dates back to 1942. It blends industrial capability with a craft culture, supplying wardrobes, kitchens, living spaces, upholstery, beds and accessories, and it collaborates with leading international designers to produce collections that integrate with architecture. Its collections reach the market through a global network of monobrand stores and partners, alongside a Contract division serving residential, hospitality and commercial projects.
Yabu Pushelberg approaches the same territory from the other side. Founded in 1980 by George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg with an interiors focus, the studio has grown into a multidisciplinary practice of more than a hundred people across New York and Toronto. Its remit spans buildings, interiors, landscapes, lighting, furniture, objects and graphics, always with an emphasis on how a place makes people feel rather than only how it looks. We explored that philosophy in our earlier interview with Yabu Pushelberg on their work with Alpi, and Solstice extends the same sensibility into a new partnership.
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Although the installation lives in Shanghai, both parties frame the collaboration as a global one, with the story and the work meant to travel well beyond the city. For readers tracking where contemporary furniture is heading, this debut signals a direction: fewer static showrooms, more staged environments, and designers who treat atmosphere as part of the product.
Solstice is on view at YARD 200, Shanghai, from November 13 to 14, 2026.
