2,500 exhibitors will set up camp on 211,500 square metres at the Milan Fairgrounds, Rho, where the 49th edition of Salone Internazionale del Mobile is to be held, along with Eurocucina and its collateral event FTK, the International Bathroom Furniture Exhibition, the International Furnishing Accessories Exhibition and SaloneSatellite.
This year the biennial Kitchen Furniture Exhibition along with FTK (Technology for the Kitchen) will occupy four Pavilions, Nos. 9, 11, 13 and 15, while two other Pavilions, Nos. 22 and 24, will be given over entirely to the Bathroom Furniture Exhibition.
SaloneSatellite – in Pavilions 22 and 24 – is where our focus will be – an event geared to fostering contact between young designers and exhibiting companies. It is here where many of the design schools present. In addition to their own prototypes, the participants are asked to present one or more projects focused on the products showcased at the Kitchen and Bathroom biennial exhibitions. There will be a competition for the 3 best products in the 2 sections involved. This year there will also be a montage conceived by 5 young architects/designers, previous participants in SaloneSatellite, again under the supervision of Ricardo Bello Dias.
Outside the salon, Zona Tortona showcases contemporary and upcoming companies and brands, while every trendy new designer tries to find the latest uncultivated area of Mia in which to hold his/her show.
There will also be an exceptional number of outside events dedicated to Milan running alongside the trade shows: no fewer than four exhibitions focusing on the manufacture of furnishings and furnishing accessories, on kitchens, on bathrooms, plus the project being hosted by eight key Milanese institutions: from the historic Villa Reale and the Pinacoteca di Brera to the nineteenth century Poldi Pezzoli and Bagatti Valsecchi Historic House Museums, the Planetarium designed by Piero Portaluppi and donated to the city by Ulrico Hoepli in 1929, the Boschi Di Stefano house in Via Jan, and Villa Necchi Campiglio, a 30s urban jewel, both also designed by Portaluppi, to the contemporary Triennale Bovisa.
ARTS THREAD will be compiling a guide to the best new designer/student shows - coming up soon.
Image credits left to right: work to be shown at the 2010 Salone - Mini Golf Club by La Bolleur; Industry by Tom Dixon; Bed Cabinet by Anna van der Lei, photo by Rene van der Hulst.