The Salone del Mobile and the Fuorisalone are meeting venues where innovation and education are key elements for visitors to think about possibilities, design and projects.
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The yearly appointment with the Design has come to an end. The acclaimed Salone del Mobile and Fuorisalone hosted in the city of Milan ended making an impressive record this 2024. This year the Fuorisalone attracted more than 630 thousand visitors, 23% more than last year, coming from 162 different countries. During the design week there were 1125 events within the guide, with 838 different brands. After this edition, it made us understand the importance of design in new visions and solutions for the future. The exposed projects open new possibilities on how to cope and interact with our planet, being this year's theme: “Materia Natura” - Matter Nature. The Salone del Mobile, hosted inside Rho Fiera in Milan, also had a good affluence and a positive growth of visitors compared to last year. Visits from all over the world have grown by 17,1%, picking a record of 361.427 total visitors.
Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile Milano stated that this 62nd edition exceeded all expectations, being a record edition. This year results happened thanks to the trust of an ecosystem that is able to recognise the exhibition's international leadership. The Salone has once again recognised itself as a unique event in the world, acting as a bridge between different international markets and geographies. Milan has become an intercontinental city open to innovation, where competition accelerates the competitiveness of a key sector for the economy of the country and beyond. As Maria Porro said, “It is a great industry of meaning and lasting value, product and employment, material and immaterial culture."
The acclaimed film director David Lynch has created the “Thinking Room” in collaboration with the curator Antonio Monda. At the entrance of pavillon 5 - 7 this twin room has been introduced to the 62nd edition of the fair, positively described as a ‘surprise’. They are represented as two oval shells of red velvet, two curtains, reminding us of some scenes as ‘Velluto Blu’ or ‘Twin Peaks'. Lombardi22 has projected a way to enter space. The twin "zones' have a semi-absolute opacity, the visitors have to walk around them to understand exactly what they are about or to find the entrance. The traditional theatrical curtain is essentially a movable frontier: opening horizontally, it opens wide the threshold of the stage and marks the green light to the dimension of the performance. The curtain of "Interiors by David Lynch. A Thinking Room" describes an area that wants to maintain some sacred character. If we want to access it, it is up to us to identify the doorway.
This year, the third edition of the Fuorisalone Award ended, a prize that takes into consideration innovation, set up and content of a project. This year the award was won by the brand Lasvit con Re/ Creation, at palazzo Isimbardi. The project encompassed a big glass installation, projected by Maxim Velcovsky, art director. The award focuses on creativity and on the installations that can give a different and innovative vision to the city of Milan. Lasvit is a company known for creating bold, unique spaces and lighting experiences that interact with people's aesthetic sense and emotions. It was founded by Leon Jakimič. "Door" represents an impressive installation that shows Lasvit's exceptional craftsmanship in creating handmade glass facades, highlighting the many facets of molten glass. The work was made in Europe's largest glass furnace. It demonstrates the brand's ability to adapt to any size requirements and variations while maintaining a high standard of precision and artistic content.
Both the Salone del Mobile and Fuorisalone have found a way to bring to the surface the problems regarding the economic, climate and social crisis through design installations and cultural projects. In this way, the public felt involved with the theme and had the opportunity to interact with them. All projects, from the independent to the collectives, focus on the progress of the sustainability sector. They accompany progress and new productions and show the use of new materials and technologies, together with new possibilities of recycle and reuse, using their set up, locations and radical choices to make an impact and strong statement.
Written by Kooness