As the curtain goes up on the Salone del Mobile.Milano, new narratives and exhibition spaces make their debut and homage is paid to the genius of Leonardo

The genius of Leonardo is the overarching theme of the 58 th edition of the #salonedelmobile.Milano. This new word is incorporated into the Manifesto and exceptional exhibition displays narrate the forms, materials and philosophies of furnishing yesterday and today. From 9 th to 14 th April, at Fiera Milano, Rho, open 9.30am to 6.30pm.

Open to the public: Saturday and Sunday. Ingenuity, vision, innovation, sustainable #excellence and emotion sum up the familial lexicon of the #salonedelmobile.Milano which, back on the starting blocks, is even more global, inclusive and in dialogue with the city, the institutions and the creative and productive furnishing system.

The 58 th edition of the #event gives shape to its vocation as a laboratory for experimentation and cross-pollution, a place for interface and new opportunities for reflection on the world of #design and designing. Claudio Luti, President of the #salonedelmobile had this to say: “Now into its 58 th edition, the #salonedelmobile is an established #event on the global stage, the linchpin of a virtuous system with its roots in Milan, while its tendrils spread all over the world, generating relations, business opportunities and creative paths that reflect positively on the life of our city and on the entire #design sector.

This is why we continue to invest in the idea of teamwork, in which all the actors feel involved in a common project that does our companies good, does Milan good and does Italy good. Our efforts to bolster our links with the institutions can be seen in this light, giving them an active part to play in a process that manufactures value while whipping up new enthusiasm, making for an increasingly open, inclusive #event that lives and breathes with the place where it all began.” 2019 sees the incorporation of a new word into the Manifesto: “Genius”, in the sense of intelligence as the driver of creativity, sense of talent, brilliance in doing and thinking.

These gifts are characteristic of the companies represented at the Salone, which the designers working with them develop on an ongoing basis and which the roots on which the manufacturing system is founded have transmitted and succoured. “The Italian companies are looking ahead to the most important appointment of the year in the furnishing world and for the entire country system, with mindfulness and enthusiasm, which will enable them to lay down even more solid foundations in order to continue to see off market competition. The wood-furnishing chain crosses over into other sectors, with synergies that build a very real system.

Our companies manufacture excellent products, which also have cultural and social value. Good looks, comfort, innovation and sustainabilityare the factors that subsist in their own right outwith the products furnishing our houses, and they impact society as a whole, stimulating young people and the world of #design in a broader sense, including our trade fair, which for almost sixty years has proved to be an #event with huge public impact and great prominence for our region.

Culture, #design and industrial system thus become an international benchmark as well as a virtuous model for a country that is functioning and is perfectly conscious of the fact that in order to grown investments have to be made in the circular economy, in work and in training, three strategic areas that FederlegnoArredo continues to bolster in its dialogue with the institutions, also and especially during the Salone del Mobile”, said Emanuele Orsini, President of Federlegno Arredo Eventi. Six exhibitions will be taking place concurrently until Sunday 14 th April, with more than 2,400 exhibitors split between the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, International Furnishing Accessories Exhibition, Euroluce, Workplace3.0 and S.Project, along with 550 young designers at SaloneSatellite.

The Salone Internazionale del Mobile and the International Furnishing Accessories Exhibition cater to many and varied aesthetic tastes, in which the stars are increasingly innovative products that respond perfectly to the changing contemporary social structure, the consequent rapid changes in the furnishing market and the individual demands of each and every client. The area devoted to xLux has been enlarged, in response to the latest evolutions within the sector and the recent interest in timeless luxury, revisited in a contemporary key. This genre of furnishing, along with Classic and #design, informs the structure of the two events, taking over the whole of Pavilion 4 with a range of goods that combine #excellence, technology and creativity in order to respond effectively to demand from the Russian, Asian and Arab markets in particular, but not exclusively. Another new development for 2019 is the Workplace3.0 extensive and crosscutting exhibition format, inside the Salone Internazionale del Mobile pavilions, as has been the case for many years with the International Furnishing Accessories Exhibition.

This new exhibition format is geared to better illustrating the evolution of the workplace, which has now become a hybrid space in which the professional and the personal element coexist in a sort of osmosis. Workplace3.0’s topical narrative is a faithful reflection of the social transformation of the workspace into a flexible, permeable and dynamic space, ripe for professional interaction and engagement with other day-to-day activities. Also making its debut is S.Project, a crosscutting exhibition format that acts as a magnifying glass for decoding and reflecting on the latest interior #design product and #design strategies.

A multifaceted space in which the keywords are multisector, synergy and quality.Euroluce, now into a bumper 30 th edition, is showcasing integrated and smart lighting, increasingly the province of #design, geared to illuminating as well as ‘feeling‘ and ‘living’ the space. Technological developments, the evolution of control systems and the miniaturisation of light sources have thrown open new possibilities. The keywords for this edition are experimentation and technological innovation, sustainability and aesthetics. SaloneSatellite, now in its 22 nd edition, focuses on the crossover between different spheres and vocabularies.

The topical and cultural theme proposed to the 550 talented young designers involved is FOOD as a #design OBJECT. Because food is a product on the same level as others, which have always evolved from creativity and human need. It demands careful planning, as well as a study of artisan and industrial processes, both traditional and not – as well as a healthy dose of curiosity and openness towards cultures other than one’s own. Our hope is that these young people will come up with designs fuelled by avant-garde vision, ideas, projects and original contributions.

The SaloneSatellite Award is now into its tenth year. The prizes are assigned by an international jury of leading #design figures from around the world – chaired by Paola Antonelli (Senior Curator of the Department of Architecture and #design at MoMA and curator of Broken Nature, the XXII Triennale di Milano) – which selects the 3 most outstanding products submitted. During this year’s Leonardo celebrations, the #salonedelmobile is celebrating its indissoluble links with Milan and its ‘favourite son’, Leonardo, with two outstanding and powerfully evocative installations – one in the city and the other at the fairgrounds – providing visitors with what promises to be a memorable cultural and emotional experience.

AQUA. Leonardo da Vinci’s Water Vision at the Conca dell’Incoronata, harnesses hypertechnology to flesh out the great master’s studies of water, imagining a Milan of the future in which the watercourses acquire new meaning and usefulness. Conceived by Marco Balich for the #salonedelmobile, this site-specific immersive installation conjures up a sense of wonder and references responsible and far-sighted #design capable of improving the relationship between man and the city. As a spur to those already in possession of what it takes to inherit the mantle of Leonardo and of Ludovico Sforza – designers, young talents, entrepreneurs – the Salone is also showcasing a project designed to celebrate Leonardo’s legacy to the art of #design and savoir-faire, in Pavilion 24 at the fairgrounds.

DE-SIGNO. The art of Italian #design before and after Leonardo narrates, the Renaissance genius and his relationship with contemporary Italian #design with commentary by Italian cinema and theatre actor and cinematographer Diego Abatantuono.Underscoring and valorising its ties with Milan even further and in the spirit of increased openness to the exchange and circulation of ideas, culture and creativity, the #salonedelmobile has entered into a three-year agreement with the Teatro alla Scala Foundation, leading up to 2021 and the celebrations for the sixtieth anniversary of the #event.

This year, for the first time ever, the Salone opened with a magnificent concert: Riccardo Chailly, musical director of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, conducted Rossini’s Semiramide and William Tell Overtures and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, arranged by Ravel. Again this year, a great evening celebration of #design will be held to mark the end of the #salonedelmobile.Milano at Palazzo Marino on Friday 12th April, fuelled by the tremendous excitement generated by the #event.

It will be an occasion for celebrating the enormous productive and organisational commitment of the companies and all the designers and other people who help to make Milan the most interesting and attractive place in the world during this particular week. The #salonedelmobile.Milano supports seMiniAmo, a hugely important project focused on the quality of life of our citizens, inclusion and social culture.

Making Milan increasingly a place where things take shape.

Milan, 9 th April 2019