PREVIEW – SALONE DEL MOBILE 2023
Courage to change
From 18 to 23 April 2023, the 61st edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano takes place at the Fiera Milano Rho exhibition centre in Milan and this year will include the Euroluce lighting biennale. Studio Lombardini22 has designed a new modular structure for the biennial, which is based on the street layout of traditional Italian locations and is intended to increase the visibility of exhibitors and simplify the routes taken by visitors. The team led by President Maria Porro has also developed a concept for the space in general that puts the visitors in the foreground: The exhibitor stands in the upper halls (8-12, 16-20) will be moved to the lower halls. The risk of overlooking stands in the hustle and bustle of the trade fair or simply not finding access to the upper halls is thus banned. "We listened to the needs of those who make and experience the Salone, exhibitors and visitors alike, holding more than 2,300 interviews and themed work groups. This fostered the idea for an exhibition on one single level to facilitate the flows and we took an almost “urbanistic” approach to the internal design of the pavilions," says Maria Porro. The product presentation is thus embedded in experiential areas that create interfaces between disciplines and offer the opportunity to reflect on what is seen.
For Euroluce, which this year will be held in Halls 9 to 11 and 13 to 15 under the motto "The city of Lights", Beppe Finessi and Formafantasma have designed creative concepts that will turn the exhibition space into a showcase of disciplines, from architecture to photography, design, science, literature and art. Formafantasma's "Aurore" arena will provide space for the talk programme curated by Annalisa Rosso, which focus on lighting, technology and sustainability. Guests will include designers and architects Shigeru Ban, Andrea D'Antrassi of MAD and Marius Myking of Snohetta. The architect Piero Lissoni focuses on hospitality with a bistro and fine dining restaurant in the Euroluce halls. Part of Euroluce Halls 13 to 15 will also be the SaloneSatellite exhibition under the theme "Design Schools - Universities / Building the (Im)Possible. Process, Progress, Practice". The 27 participating schools and universities will be arranged in a ring surrounding the stands of the individual designers. Founded in 1998 by Marva Griffin, SaloneSatellite is the Salone del Mobile.Milano's event dedicated to designers under the age of 35, with the aim of facilitating relationships between companies and designers preparing to enter the postgraduate profession and the market. Part of the show is also the special exhibition "Sate-light. 1998-2022 SaloneSatellite young designers", which will show many of the luminaires designed by participants of the SaloneSatellite and realised in cooperation with manufacturers. The SaloneSatellite Award will be presented during the fair. This year, the SaloneSatelliete will feature over 550 exhibitors and taking place for the 24th time.
With a view to sustainability, the Salone del Mobile.Milano 2023, as the mothership of the trade fair fleet, is also taking its role as a model for change in the industry: "Following the 2022 edition, which had sustainability at its heart with the large installation by Mario Cuccinella, we decided to embark on the process for ISO 20121 certification, believing it crucial to continue along our path towards sustainability, whilst taking careful note of our progress. This also informed our decision to join the Global Compact. The certification process is helping us to acquire greater skills internally and also with regard to constructive dialogue with all the stakeholders involved. We are a global event, as organisers we are aware of just how important it is to share this ethical and responsible course of action with all the exhibiting companies, the fitters, the visitors and the entire design ecosystem," comments Maria Porro, President of Salone del Mobile.Milano. The digital offers for the upcoming Salone del Mobile.Milano will also be expanded, from the dedicated app including a wayfinding function to the extensive range of offers on the website and podcasts. This year, the universally understandable communication design comes from Leftloft and Gio Pastori, who have developed a new design ABC under the title "Do you speak design?.
"The Salone del Mobile.Milano’s ability to experiment, innovate and interpret changes reflects a dynamism and willingness to do increasingly more and better for the wood-furnishing companies that have seen Italian design become the design par excellence at global level," said Claudio Feltrin, President of FederlegnoArredo. "One of the characteristics of the Salone del Mobile is its ability to evolve in order to respond to the most urgent challenges of contemporary life. We did so in 2021, when we invented Supersalone, the first global event after the really tough years of the pandemic, and with last June’s edition, when we went back to the traditional format, getting to grips with sustainability, and this we have continued to do for the 2023 edition. The idea of simply reverting to April, our traditional spot in the calendar, after three years, as if nothing had happened, was unthinkable. We worked on giving shape to the suggestions and visions that have emerged over the last few years," says Maria Porro.
Six days, six fairs (Salone Del Mobile.Milano, Salone Internazionale del Mobile, Workplace3.0, S.Project, Euroluce, SaloneSatellite) on a space of a good 170,300 square metres with around 2,000 international exhibitors, which will not only show the future development of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, but could also serve as a compass for the redesign of the fair model: Ci vediamo a Milano!
