The Latest from Milan: Salone del Mobile.Milano Announces 2018 Programming + More
Salone del Mobile.Milano unveiled the highlights of 2018’s edition, April 17-22, including the anchor events EuroCucina 2018, Salone Internazionale del Bagno, and SaloneSatellite. From EuroCucina emphasizing technology through the FTK exhibit to SaloneSatellite embracing the theme Africa / Latin America: Rising Design — Design Emergente, it’s sure to be one of the most exciting Salone shows yet!
Salone will also introduce a new exhibit: Living Nature, La Natura dell’Abitare. Living Nature, designed by the prestigious Carlo Ratti Associati & Studio Römer, will be in the Piazza del Duomo in front of Palazzo Reale from April 17-25. The exhibit explores the relationship between nature and humans, triggering ideas about sustainable design both inside and outside the home. The space will contain four natural, climatic microcosms that will create the seasons of the year unfolding at the same time, one next to the other. Visitors will be immersed in nature and experience its changes as they move through Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn. The pavilion will consist of a responsive crystal membrane with light-reactive sensors and photovoltaic panels that will make the ‘climates’ possible. Through Living Nature, Salone will present an emotive installation that serves as a platform for the value of sustainable living.
Finally (and very importantly), we want to share Salone del Mobile’s first-ever Manifesto. In honor of Salone bringing the show to the city in a more active way through the Living Nature exhibit, they created the Manifesto to showcase the connection between Milan and Salone and the show’s commitment to design. This rich document is a tribute to the city, supporting Milan and demonstrating the show’s history as a hub for creativity and innovation. Salone del Mobile is not just a trade show, but a system of connections and an emotional, global experience that unites the international community. Salone is a platform for enterprise, quality, design, networking, culture, communication, and more…all with Milan at the center.
Download a PDF of the Salone del Mobile.MilanoManifesto here, and read more about it in the official press release below.
Also please see below for a press release on the number of exhibitors in the various events in this year’s edition of Salone del Mobile.Milano, as well as the press releases for SaloneSatellite and Living Nature. For more information about EuroCucina and FTK, please visit the event web page here. For more information about Salone Internazionale del Bagno, please visit the event web page here.
Milan at the centre. The first-ever Salone del Mobile.Milano Manifesto has been launched
The Salone del Mobile explores its values, its deep-rooted connection with Milan and the companies, brands and designers that have made it a world leader. Designing a high quality, innovative and creative future.
The 57th edition of the Salone del Mobile at Fiera Milano Rho from 17th to 22nd April, is an unmissable sectoral appointment at global level. This year’s edition promises to be a new starting point. Every new beginning calls for reflection and commitment, to which end the Salone del Mobile.Milano has put together its first ever Manifesto. It is not just an affectionate gesture towards the city and all the actors that have contributed to its success, but is first and foremost a declaration of intent, laying the foundations for a new way of thinking, working as a system and designing.
“The Salone del Mobile’s success resides in the indefatigable industrial network that underpins it. It is a manufacturing system driven by the interface between business people from small and large companies on one hand and designers and architects on the other, working together to create and project excellence. We now need to up our game to overcome the global challenge, we need to focus on innovation and sustainable quality, on our talent for creating a system and culture, on our willingness to share information and valorise the new generations”, said Claudio Luti, President of the Salone del Mobile. “This is why the Salone also keeps evolving and consolidating its links with Milan. The first Manifesto is a commitment to continue to strive to do better and is an invitation to Milan, the city at the centre of it all, where it all first began, to keep networking and growing together, to keep building on the centripetal and attractive power of the Salone and consolidate the city’s role as ‘the place to be’ for leading brands, their projects and their human and financial resources.”
“The Salone del Mobile is a distinctive Milanese brand. Much more than just a furniture exhibition, the Salone is an international event, a laboratory for experimentation and research, a meeting place and a showcase for new businesses – an unmissable appointment for designers and architects, who present, study and set trends here every year, with an increasing focus on sustainability. In other words, the Salone is the best expression of Milan’s go-ahead, young, concrete and visionary spirit. I am quite sure the 2018 edition will serve to bolster its image even further”, said Mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala.
The Salone del Mobile Manifesto opens with the image of Milan at the centre of the process of renewal, and is intended to spearhead a new way of conceiving the trade fair and the city, with a view to consolidating the internationalisation process and the leadership role it has acquired over the years. The invitation to innovate is, in fact, a plea not to rest on our laurels, but to look beyond what has already been achieved and aim for sustainable quality, collaboration, inclusion and sharing, valorising young talent and the cultural heritage. This is how we can really give shape to the sort of design and architecture that is more conscious of the needs of a constantly evolving society that appreciates futuristic design but also needs to feel a variety of small emotions on an everyday basis.
Emanuele Orsini, President of Federlegno Arredo Eventi, had this to say: “The guiding spirit of this edition of the Salone del Mobile is a new concept of system building, dovetailing with the best Milanese tradition, bringing together business and the quest for style, industry and aesthetics, which is why, every year in April, it is designated the international capital of design. The story began in 1961, when a small group of furniture makers under the aegis of FederlegnoArredo decided to launch a trade fair free from confusion and misunderstanding. Since then Milan and its Salone have rapidly come to resemble each other and together they constitute the most recent ongoing phenomenon in Italian history. The power of the event, the solidity of the Federation and the vitality and creativity of the companies are the crucial ingredients for an unparalleled event that not only helps our businesses grow, but is also one of the most important manifestations of development in the Italian system as a whole. Italy is the leading European country in terms of furnishing exports to the rest of the world. Our vision is for internationalisation built on strong national foundations. Its skill at designing worlds means that Italian furniture design holds some trump cards as regards sketching out the scenarios of the future.”
“The innovation and creativity of Italian products, underpinned by the coordinated action of businesses, associations and institutions, saw exports grow 1.7% in 2017, enabling us to achieve major goals on both the European and far flung markets, such as China, where Italy has become the leading supplier of furniture”, said Michele Scannavini, President of the Italian Trade Agency ICE. “The Salone del Mobile is an effective illustration of our ability to create a system and, since its inception, ICE has worked closely with FederlegnoArredo on putting together a raft of strategic activities to stimulate interest and increase the number of participating international professionals, buyers, architects, interior designers and journalists in particular.”
The Salone del Mobile.Milano explores the relationship between nature and living with an exhibition-installation that generates plenty of ideas for green projects for internal and external domestic spaces. A pavilion designed and developed with international design and innovation studio Carlo Ratti Associati will be erected in front of Palazzo Reale in Piazza del Duomo from 17th to 29th April.
In line with the views set out in the Manifesto, this year the Salone del Mobile.Milano is again keen to acknowledge the value of outstanding concepts, creativity, innovation and technology. The third edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano Award will be a great celebration of design, with a ceremony on Friday 20th April at Palazzo Marino focusing on the myriad ideas generated by the fair. Recognition will be made of the huge productive and organisational commitment of the companies and all the designers and people who do their bit to make Milan the most interesting and attractive place in the world during this particular week.
Salone del Mobile.Milano 2018: The figures of the 57th edition
The upcoming edition promises to be packed with visitors and projects: more than 205,000 sqm of net exhibition space and over 2,000 exhibitors – including 650 SaloneSatellite designers – 22% of them are foreign companies.
Preparations are in full swing for the 57th edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, the furnishing sector’s premier showcase for quality, innovation and creativity and an unmissable appointment for professionals and anybody attracted by the wide range of goods and the packed programme of events and projects.
Five exhibitions will be held contemporaneously from Tuesday 17th to Sunday 22nd April at Fiera Milano, Rho. They will be open to trade visitors every day from 9.30 am to 6.30 pm, and also open to the public on the Saturday and Sunday.
Salone Internazionale del Mobile and International Furnishing Accessories Exhibition – split into 3 style categories: Classic: Tradition in the Future, Design and xLUX – will be joined by the biennial EuroCucina – plus its collateral event FTK (Technology For the Kitchen) – and International Bathroom Exhibition, as well as SaloneSatellite.
THE FIGURES
Salone del Mobile.Milano
Over 205,000 sqm of net exhibition space and more than 2,000 exhibitors – including 650 SaloneSatellite designers – 22% of them from other countries.
Salone Internazionale del Mobile and International Furnishing Accessories Exhibition
More than 1,300 exhibitors covering 148,000 sqm split into 3 style categories:
– Design – 818 exhibitors – Pavilions 5-6-7-8-10-12-14-16-18-20
– xLux – 218 exhibitors – Pavilions 1-3
– Classic: Tradition in the Future – 270 exhibitors – Pavilions 2-4
EuroCucina
111 exhibitors of whom 23% are from abroad, covering over 21,800 sqm – Pavilions 9-11 and 13-15
FTK (Technology For the Kitchen)47 exhibitors of whom 42% are from abroad, covering over 14,300 sqm – Pavilions 9-11 and 13-15
International Bathroom Exhibition
228 exhibitors of whom 12% are from abroad, covering 20,600 sqm – Pavilions 22-24
SaloneSatellite
650 designers and undergraduates from international design schools, covering 2,800 sqm – Pavilions 13-15
The Salone del Mobile.Milano is online with its website www.salonemilano.it and on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube and Flickr), where all the information, latest news and previews for 2018 can be found.
The official hashtags for the 57th edition are: #SalonedelMobile #Eurocucina #SaloneBagno #SaloneSatellite
The Salone del Mobile.Milano 2018 app (for iOS Apple and Android) will be free to download, making it easier to navigate the trade fair.
SaloneSatellite 2018: design to come
This year marks the 21st edition of the world’s leading event for talented young designers – an edition for reflecting on the future of design, right from its origins, and for exploring the delicate balance between craftsmanship and the new technologies.
The prime objective of SaloneSatellite has always been to discover, follow, valorise and offer concrete possibilities to young designers under 35. On the eve of the upcoming edition, being held concurrently with the Salone del Mobile.Milano, from 17th to 22nd April, the event is reaffirming its vocation and its mission to spark conversation and reflections on and study into the future of design.
650 young designers will be ranged over 2,800 square metres in Pavilions 13-15 at Fiera Milano in Rho, with free public entry from Cargo 4.
With the theme assigned to this year’s young designers, Africa / Latin America: Rising Design – Design Emergente, SaloneSatellite is putting the spotlight firmly on the Southern Hemisphere. Africa and Latin America are two huge melting pots of creativity and design. The theme has inspired a journey that will change our perception and understanding of design, to which an exhibition on the wealth of design in both continents is testament. The Latin American part will be curated by brothers Humberto and Fernando Campana, designers who have been active for some time in the social rehabilitation of marginalised people, and the African part by the Franco-Moroccan designer Hicham Lahlou, founder of the Africa Design Award & Days, committed to promoting up-and-coming generations of African creatives. The aim is to showcase design of vernacular derivation together with what is on offer today, or could soon be available, for dealing with social and environmental emergencies and fostering an informed way of life for the future.
For their part, the young SaloneSatellite protagonists from all over the world, will be asked to showcase works that explore the relationship between heritage and the contemporary scene, with projects poised between the new technologies and craftsmanship. An exploration of experimentation, memory, slow design, nature and the force of matter, anthropomorphism, creative recycling, cross-contamination and digital effects, with the power to amaze and trigger reflection.
As always, a prestigious Selection Committee composed of leading international figures from the world of design, planning and communication has viewed works by a large number of designers who will be exhibiting alongside some of those who have taken part in previous editions (up to a maximum of 3). The committee, chaired by Marva Griffin Wilshire, Founder and curator of SaloneSatellite, is made up as follows: Maurizio Riva, CEO Riva1920; Roberto Minotti, CO-CEO Minotti; Gianluca Gessi, President, Gessi; Riccardo Bello Dias, Architect; Stefan Scholten, Designer; Stefano Giovannoni, Designer; Porzia Bergamasco, Journalist; Suzanne Schwarz, Editor-in-Chief, Spectrooms; Luciana Cuomo, Editor, DDN and Patrizia Malfatti, Head Communication and Press Office Salone del Mobile.Milano.
A major new departure for this edition is SaloneSatellite’s participation in the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, instituted by the European Commission and implemented and run in Italy by the Ministry for Cultural Heritage (Mibact). The scheme is designed to support and encourage the efforts of those working in European cultural heritage, with a view to raising awareness of the value of cultural heritage as an asset and a resource for the European economy. FederlegnoArredo and the Salone del Mobile.Milano have always subscribed to the European Commission’s approach. As SaloneSatellite clearly fulfils the Commission’s criteria for taking part in the initiative (job creation, local and regional development, tourism, social inclusion, community engagement, identity building), it was only natural to want to join in.
The selection process is, as always, extremely competitive, in order to uphold SaloneSatellite’s excellent reputation, as it “crowns” promising young designers destined for the market and the design star system.
Last but not least, the SaloneSatellite Award – now into its 9th edition – marks a further step towards facilitating the interface between demand and supply, between business people and designers and between creativity and production. The Award is conferred by an international Jury of prominent figures in the design world, which selects the 3 best products on exhibit.
Living Nature. La Natura dell’Abitare
The Salone del Mobile.Milano ponders the possible reconciliation of man and nature with an emotive installation that enters into the debate on the value of sustainable living.
The 57th edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano will explore the relationship between nature and living with an exhibition-installation designed to trigger ideas about sustainable design in the internal and external parts of the home.
The Salone’s city-based technological project Living Nature. La Natura dell’Abitare developed with the Carlo Ratti Associati (CRA) international design and innovation studio, will be in Piazza del Duomo, in front of Palazzo Reale, from 17th to 29th April.
A single 500m2 space, conceived with energy saving criteria in mind, will contain four natural, climactic microcosms that will enable all four seasons of the year to unfold at precisely the same time, one next to the other.
Visitors will be immersed in nature and experience its changes as they make their way through the four different areas – Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn – embellished with familiar and domestic concepts.
The project, conceived by CRA with Barbara Römer, does not fail to deliver in terms of ironic, evocative and experiential value. Quite the reverse. While the obvious aim is the reconciliation between urban and domestic spaces on one hand and nature on the other, the end goal is to come up with sustainable, genuinely applicable solutions that replicate the processes inherent in our own ecosystem, harnessing existing technological advances in an intelligent manner. While air conditioning is often associated with excessive consumption, this project offers a radical change of perspective, demonstrating the feasibility of air conditioning technology that is also sustainable, with huge potential for future applications.
The 5-metre-high pavilion will consist of a responsive Crystal membrane fitted with lightreactive sensors that enable the internal climatic conditions to be carefully regulated. A series of organic photovoltaic panels, equipped with latest generation solar cells inspired by chlorophyll photosynthesis, will be integrated into the roof, providing the energy required to keep the winter area cold. A heat exchange system draws on this energy to heat the summer area.
With this event, the Salone del Mobile.Milano is keen to make its contribution to the regreening of the city, albeit temporary. Living Nature. La Natura dell’Abitare is designed to explore whether or not a space, urban or domestic, can become more human-friendly through the sustainable use of natural resources.
Ultimately, the project provides a new standpoint and a different perspective on tackling the issues of environmental sustainability and climate change with a view to improving our living conditions at home and in cities and satisfy the human tendency towards “biophilia” – a term coined by Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson – according to which we are all instinctively attracted by nature and “programmed” to feel better when we are immersed in it.
Credits
A Carlo Ratti Associati (CRA) project for the Salone del Mobile.Milano
Concept Design: Carlo Ratti Associati & Studio Römer
Design Development: Carlo Ratti Associati
Scenography: Studio Römer
Engineering Consultants: Ai Studio
Landscape and Botanics: Patrick Blanc Flavio Pollano
Construction: PAC Team Expo
Graphics: studio FM milano
Living Nature. La Natura dell’Abitare
17th – 29th April
Piazza del Duomo
10am – 10pm
