For design wonks around the world, there’s a new must-see destination opening in Italy in June: a sprawling 6,000-square-meter installation space by the Bisazza Foundation, a non-profit devoted to design and architecture, freshly launched by the Italian brand of fine mosaic glass tiling (you can check them out at the bottom of Cher's swimming pool). With architect Carlo Dal Bianco, the foundation converted the company's former factory in Montecchio Maggiore into an exhibition space of works and installations by hot contemporary designers.

Four thousand square feet, which includes a courtyard, will be devoted to Bisazza's permanent collection, work by the likes of design superstars Tord Boontje, Aldo Cibic, Sandro Chia, and Marcel Wanders. The simple floors, white walls, and skylights provide an ideal environment to exhibit Alessandro Mendini's "Furniture for Man," a collection of large-scale objects and men's apparel — a blazer, a shoe, a hat, a teacup — adorned with glittering golden tiles. Meanwhile, the arching roof gives a striking accent to the space. Other works to look forward to: Studio Job's "Silver Ware," silver-tiled, oversized tabletop accessories that include a giant candlestick, teapot, and spoon; Jaime Hayon's "Jet Set," a so-called "living room airplane" prominently featuring a sofa at its center, tiled in fiber and silver; and Fabio Novembre's skate ramp-like "Love Over All," a room-sized, shining, heart-shaped loop-de-loop.

The remaining 2,000 square meters of the space go to traveling exhibitions and installations, launching with “John Pawson — Plain Space,” a retrospective from the London Design Museum that ran earlier this year. The exhibition looks at Pawson's early career in the 1980s through today, including his minimalist architecture and product design. Its first time in Italy, the exhibition will show not only Pawson's landmark works — commisions like the Sackler Crossing bridge in London's Royal Botanic Gardens, and Calvin Klein’s New York flagship store among them — but also his sketches, study models, prototypes, and personal items from the Pawson archive. In the spirit of Bisazza, as an added bonus Pawson will be producing his first mosaic work in a site-specific piece for the show.

The Bisazza Foundation and “John Pawson — Plain Space" opens on June 8. To see a few of the works to be featured, click the slideshow.