The Salone del Mobile, is celebrating its 51st year, is to furniture what Sundance is to film. It’s the industry event that brings designers, retailers and manufacturers flooding into the city, all looking to find the trends of tomorrow and the stars of the future. The show, also known as “Milan Design Week,” is held every year, usually in April, in the FieraMilano complex in the Milan metropolitan area town of Rho.
Taking up 1,738,845 square feet of exhibition space and lasting five days, it’s basically a big shopping bonanza except nothing is for sale—all is to order and many prototypes will never see the light of day. Superstar designers arrive from the airport by limousine, and young hopefuls by underground.
This year, despite the economic climate, the crowds were in (more than 300,000 people descended on Milan for the week). Chatter at the endless cocktail parties was that dramatic new directions were few and far between (save some softer color palettes, a hint of 70s styling and a taste for comfort in the form of loose upholstery and quilting – perhaps a sign of a need to nest), but instead there were loads of collaborations, such as Lenny Kravitz and Philippe Starck for Kartell or Dror Benshetrit for Tumi luggage and a focus on new technology versus traditional craft techniques (think 3D printing up against handmade furniture).
In that mood, the mainstays of this year’s Milan Furniture Fair, the industry’s premier event, were not about costly redecorating. Instead, designers showcased a few distinctive pieces that inspire and give new impulse to a room, as well as technological advances to make life easier.
Often the best stuff isn’t to be found at the fairgrounds but in smaller satellite venues around the city. The lay of the land is as follows: The big-gun manufacturers (e.g., Vitra, Moroso, Magis, etc) show at the sprawling Rho fairgrounds; the Zona Tortona, inside the city, hosts established but still edgy brands like Tom Dixon, Moooi, Bisazza and Established & Sons.
What the giant manufacturers lead with at the fair pretty much depicts what we will start to see in design and home stores next year. Though design is about improving the quality of life, it never hurts to get one’s name in lights.
Someday I hope to make it to Milan for this fabulous show. Take a look at some innovative and beautiful designs for the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, which featured 2,500 exhibitors at the Milan Fairgrounds in Rho: Please see my twitter feed for additional coverage. 🙂
Shown here is the Borghese sofa by Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance, Hyde design.
Bolon and Missoni home
Etch Web Lamp by Tom Dixon.
Benjamin Hubert chair for Poltrona Frau‘s 100th anniversary.
The Soft Collection utilizes flexible honeycomb structures that expand contract and flex, forming sculptural spaces and seating topographies, soft is a research driven exploration of materials, structure and space making.
Zona Tortona has long been regarded as the sister satellite exhibit to the Salone Del Mobile This year there looks to have been some great new playful concepts to entice.
The 38 Series by Bocci is part terrarium, part chandelier, and hangs from the ceiling by stiff copper tubing. You can see it in Rossana Orlandi’s famous courtyard.
Karim Rashid has designed the Float sofa for the Spanish furniture manufacturer SANCAL.
Fedro represents a groundbreaking new concept in seating.
Designer Patricia Urquiola’s new collection for French crystal manufacturer Baccarat. The collection, entitled ‘Variations’, was displayed by on Molo’s white textile softblocks and softseating fanning stools.
“They have a really nostalgic feel that I love”: Lee Bloom on his hand-blown Crystal Bulbs
‘Corniches” by the Bouroullec brothers for Vitra
It is here that Barovier&Toso and Citco have presented The Secret Garden, a display event in which each can convey their particular specialties, one in the working of blown glass to make lighting installations and chandeliers, the other in the production of inlaid marble for surfaces, walls and floors.
“Husk” chairs by Patricia Urquiola for B&B Italia
Tex tiles by Raw Edges for Mutina. Mutina is shown for the first time at Salone del Mobile in Milan.
Shown here is a selection of collaborative pieces including the Sliding Sue table by Rockwell Group and CA Atelier, and Live Painted Wall by the artists Gijs Frieling and Job Wouters using paint from Schmincke. Read more about this collaboration in the August issue of Wallpaper magazine.
The French luxury goods company Hermès continues its move into homeware with the development of an excellent textiles and wallpaper collection. The Equateur wallpaper design here is based on a scarf designed by the wildlife illustrator Robert Dallet for Hermès in 1988.
Developed by british designer ross lovegrove in collaboration with czech glass and crystal producers lasvit, ‘liquidkristal’ is a high precisionheat transfer process of creating organic-like glass panels, developed towards the innovative use of the material in large-scale architectural installations.
Who’s HOT…an eclectic showroom for fashion designer ANTONIO MARRAS
“Haiku” testifies to the fantastic collaboration between Fredericia and the Danish-Italian architectural duo GamFratesi.
Foaming bathtub – can someone please explain this?
When David Weeks met with Quinze & Milan at Salone 2011, they both knew they wanted to work together. One year later, the Giant Cubebot debuts at Tom Dixon\’s MOST Salone!
‘Sliding cabinet B’ from a collection by Nendo for Bisazzo Bagno
Sunburst boasts a base which is composed of 14 elements in chromed metal, conveying the strength of solar explosion for Versaci Home
A new chair for Versaci Home
French Designer Philippe Starck for furniture maker Kartell
Lenny Kravitz rocks the chair world for Kartell
J.J. armchair by Antonio Citterio for B Italia.
The 2012 Palomba Collection is composed of a bathtub, eight washbasins and a series of accessories. All the elements can be combined and offer great freedom of composition.
The Medici, a wooden chair created by the German designer Konstantin Grcic for Mattiazzi.
Hallingdal 65 project – an exhibition celebrating the iconic textile by Kvadrat
GAN presents a new space CANEVAS (carpets, pouffs and cushions) designed by Charlotte Lancelot and the new ARAM collection (tables and stools) designed by Nendo.
Moroso – The Way of the Water Dragon installation. For Moroso’s sixtieth anniversary, a tribute to the Orient with a visionary, magical installation by the Chinese architect Zhang Ke entitled The Way of the Water Dragon. Above. Hidden Dragon Sofa by Zhang Ke.
Marni hosted a selling exposition of 100 chairs made by Columbian ex-prisoners in its fladship Milan Boutique.
Chair Wheel. Displaying chairs with a twist!
A mini car is dissected, evaluated, and reconceptualized in “colour one” by Scholten & Baijings
Nike, meanwhile, is using the fair to emphasize design, rather than furniture. The megabrand is debuting the new range of its Flyknit series, woven in custom-engineered yarn.
On the “GREEN” side of things…..
Stephen Burks’ collection of “Dala” seats are inspired by south-east Asia communities. Each seat is woven from an innovative eco-fibre made out of recycled food-and-drink packaging mixed with recyclable polyethylene.
Bolon produces innovative and sustainable textiles for floors and wall coverings. The most recent project was designed in collaboration with French architect Jean Nouvel. 
Best in lighting In-Ei lighting by Issey Miyake for Artemide. The Japanese fashion designer has created flat-packed lights out of pleated fabric (artemide.com).The collection, which is made from recycled PET plastic bottles, can be stored flat and expanded into three-dimensional forms without the use of internal frames.
“Plant Your Chair” is a radical way of producing a chair in a nature.
Interni, the overall shot
As a wrap up, this is filmed around the various events in the city, every corner is captured as much as possible of this years design. Filmed using the Sony NEX 5 and a Muvi camera. Soundtrack – Temper Trap – Sweet Disposition. Until next year, thanks for viewing!
KO Design 