SEROTONIN – The Chemistry of Happiness, 2026, Sara Ricciardi Studio for Amex, Photo © Giuseppe Miotto, Marco Cappelletti Studio.
What does happiness look like? Designer Sara Ricciardi explored one of life’s greatest mysteries in a buoyant installation during Milan Design Week 2026. Her immersive, site-specific work titled Serotonin – the chemistry of happiness sought to examine the connection between beauty and bliss. Ricciardi transformed the concept of serotonin, a brain chemical that helps to regulate our mood, into an immersive sensory experience that invited attendees to step among monumental forms.
Serotonin – the chemistry of happiness was installed in the Accademia di Brera, where colorful, bulbous structures overlooked the second-story balcony. From an aesthetic perspective, the juxtaposition was striking; Ricciardi’s organic forms brought a joyful energy to the exacting stone archways and stiff statues. As visitors approached the work, the inflatable pieces would expand and contract, evoking a heartbeat, further supported by light and sound. It was a jolt of energy, conjuring a euphoric feeling when in the midst of these otherworldly, monumental forms.
“It is an organism to be experienced from within,” Ricciardi said of her piece. “An environment conceived to dissolve visitors into color, into the refraction of pattern, distorted like a current flowing freely, dialoguing with the Loggia [Milan’s collection of Italian paintings] and with Brera’s statues in their solemn, stone stillness. Between weight and lightness, a marriage of contrasts.”
No feeling lasts forever, for better or worse. But likely, it’s for the better. “Too much serotonin confuses,” Ricciardi concluded. “Too little dims. Perhaps happiness is a temporary reaction, a wave that washes over us, and our endless pursuit of joy is always in motion.”
Serotonin – the chemistry of happiness was made possible by American Express. It was on view from April 21 to April 26, 2026.
What does happiness look like? Designer Sara Ricciardi explored one of life’s greatest mysteries in a buoyant installation during Milan Design Week 2026.
SEROTONIN – The Chemistry of Happiness, 2026, Sara Ricciardi Studio for Amex, Photo © Giuseppe Miotto, Marco Cappelletti Studio.
Her immersive, site-specific work titled Serotonin – the chemistry of happiness sought to examine the connection between beauty and bliss.
SEROTONIN – The Chemistry of Happiness, 2026, Sara Ricciardi Studio for Amex, Photo © Giuseppe Miotto, Marco Cappelletti Studio.
Ricciardi transformed the concept of serotonin, a brain chemical that helps to regulate our mood, into an immersive sensory experience that invited attendees to step among monumental forms.
SEROTONIN – The Chemistry of Happiness, 2026, Sara Ricciardi Studio for Amex, Photo © Giuseppe Miotto, Marco Cappelletti Studio.
The art was installed in the Accademia di Brera, where colorful, bulbous structures overlooked the second-story balcony.
SEROTONIN – The Chemistry of Happiness, 2026, Sara Ricciardi Studio for Amex, Photo © Giuseppe Miotto, Marco Cappelletti Studio.
SEROTONIN – The Chemistry of Happiness, 2026, Sara Ricciardi Studio for Amex, Photo © Giuseppe Miotto, Marco Cappelletti Studio.
As visitors approached the work, the inflatable pieces would expand and contract, evoking a heartbeat, further supported by light and sound.
SEROTONIN – The Chemistry of Happiness, 2026, Sara Ricciardi Studio for Amex, Photo © Giuseppe Miotto, Marco Cappelletti Studio.
It was a jolt of energy, conjuring a euphoric feeling when in the midst of these otherworldly, monumental forms.
SEROTONIN – The Chemistry of Happiness, 2026, Sara Ricciardi Studio for Amex, Photo © Giuseppe Miotto, Marco Cappelletti Studio.
SEROTONIN – The Chemistry of Happiness, 2026, Sara Ricciardi Studio for Amex, Photo © Giuseppe Miotto, Marco Cappelletti Studio.
SEROTONIN – The Chemistry of Happiness, 2026, Sara Ricciardi Studio for Amex, Photo © Giuseppe Miotto, Marco Cappelletti Studio.
SEROTONIN – The Chemistry of Happiness, 2026, Sara Ricciardi Studio for Amex, Photo © Giuseppe Miotto, Marco Cappelletti Studio.
