If Design was a state, Milan would be its capital

Italy´s economic heart beats in Milan. And this year again, the Lombard capital proved that it rightly deserves its great reputation as being the capital of design. Subsequently, full of self-confidence, Milan quotes the headline of this short article not in the conditional mode as we did, but in the indicative one: Design is a state. And Milan is its capital. But let´s pass to some hard facts: The 56th edition of the furniture fair in Milan counted 343.602 entries within 6 days. The visitors came from 165 different countries. 2000 exhibitors showed their products and solutions, 34% of them were from abroad. And you could see and feel it: It was crowed. A strike of metro and bus drivers for a couple of hours on the second exhibition day, made you breathe a bit better at the exhibition halls, but this was only for short.

The office furniture manufacturers showed on 10.000 square metres their solutions for acoustics and digitization. They exhibited solutions for the fusion of living and working spaces. The architect Cristiana Cutrona curated the exhibition “A Joyful Sense at Work”. Its central message: The focus has to be on people. Technology and furnishings will move with and around people, meeting their needs the moment they arise.

But these exhibitions are only one part of the whole event. In cooperation with the city of Milan, visitors could get inspired by many events and further exhibitions hosted in palaces or old closed down industrial sites. Especially the exhibition “Doppia Firma” was a highlight. This project brought together design innovation and the tradition of great Italian artisanship by creating a unique collection of original, refined objects. The objects carry two signatures – doppia firma – as each is the creative outcome of an exchange between a designer and a uniquely skilled craftsman. Have a look:

Last but not least, Salone Satellite celebrated its 20^th birthday. It was the first event to focus on young designers. Many of the prototypes presented in the previous editions have since then gone into production and many designers, who have taken part over the years, are now big names on the design scene. Our congratulations.

Links:
Salone Milano

Doppia Firma