Europe’s biggest design festival returned to Milan this April and there were plenty of highlights. For the 62nd edition, the event presented a new frontier that is based around an open ecosystem and experience capable of communicating and offering many visions of the future to the global design community.
Evolution and innovation were key themes for this edition which kicked off on April 16 at the Rho Fiera Milano. The event which is traditionally a trade fair only is increasingly becoming an inclusive, value-based concept that helps to foster and nurture relationships within the design community, as well as inspire and educate visitors. This year’s event focuses not just on well-made products, but those that are created by visionaries who think out of the box and are leading a new generation of talent.
This year saw the relaunch of the layout and visitor paths in EuroCucina and the International Bathroom Exhibition, thanks to the contribution of neuroscience and the adoption of the human-at-the-centre philosophy. There was a total redistribution of the pavilions with a view to grouping the exhibitors by content to amplify the value and meaning of each guest’s experience.
There was also a diverse multidisciplinary culture offered throughout the event which harnesses artificial intelligence and picks up on conversations of the international design community. A collaboration with the Department and School of Design at Politecnico de Milano University aims to explore Salone as an ecosystem and its impact on the region.
Also in the celebrations was the 25th anniversary of SaloneSatellite with an exhibition at Triennale Milano which went beyond traditional exhibition canons and featured object prototypes, sketches, stories, images and testimonials.
The event brought together more than 1,900 exhibitors, including 600 young talents under 35 and 22 design schools. The event consisted of a number of areas or ‘worlds’ including Salone lnternazionale del Mobile, the International Furnishing Accessories Exhibition, Workplace3.0, S.Project, EuroCucina with FTK, the International Bathroom Exhibition and SaloneSatellite.
Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile.Milano said: “Capturing new trends, the evolution of an entire sector, by involving and listening to communities near and far, identifying new approaches, methodologies and technologies, experimenting, being on the frontier, as they say: this is still the ambition of the Salone del Mobile today. Neuroscience, artificial intelligence, new formats and paths, a unitary but widespread cultural project, encompassing consistency and multi-disciplinarily. David Lynch’s thinking rooms, the Salotto NY installation that takes us underwater, using poetry and numbers to take stock of the state of the art of the bathroom industry.”
“There [were] talks with a large number of guests, including the Pritzker Prize-winner Francis Kere and the visionary performances of artists and food designers: everything was designed to offer visitors and exhibitors an exceptional experience in terms of content and container, impossible to replicate except here, at the Salone di Milano, unthinkable to miss, even though it is not limited to a single week, but is spread throughout the whole year thanks to the driving and inclusive force of our digital platform.”
The layout featured experiential spaces, relaxation areas, conferences, round tables, international guests, vertical workshops, and intimate group sessions. there were immersive and interactive site-specific installations for learning about the state of the art of the industry or reflecting on the physical and emotional value of interiors; it staged artistic performances generating visions of tomorrow; circular bookshop and arena, as well as a new design library. All this was a bid to give visitors the opportunity for an exciting, subjective and memorable exploration, the only one capable of creating long-term connections.
