Salone del Mobile.Milano 2024: all the innovations you need to know about

From left: Mario Calabresi, journalist; Maria Porro, President of Salone del Mobile.Milano - Ph. Andrea Mariani

Exhibition layouts based on the human-at-the-center philosophy. The Biennial EuroCucina and the International Bathroom Exhibition are back again. Three large installations plus exhibitions, talks and tasting experiences related to the world of Food & Design. And then a special event celebrating for the 25th anniversary of the SaloneSatellite, with its talents under 35, and much, much more

Salone del Mobile 2024: the dates, numbers and news

The appointment with the 62nd edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano is scheduled from 16 to 21 April on the premises of Fiera Milano Rho. Evolution and innovation are the key words that best describe the most important moment as well offering a frame of reference for the international design industry. From a trade fair event, the Salone is increasingly becoming an inclusive, value-based, responsible context and network to generate relationships, narratives and significant projects all through the year.

The edition presented today at the press conference hosted at the Piccolo Teatro Strehler faces the challenges of contemporary life, with an eye to the ecological transition. Other innovations include a relaunch of the optimization of the layouts and routes of EuroCucina with FTK, Technology For the Kitchen and of the International Bathroom Exhibition with the contribution of the neurosciences, in keeping with our human-at-the-center philosophy, thanks to the collaboration with Lombardini22, leading group on the Italian architecture and engineering scene.

The result is a layout involving a complete reorganization of the pavilions with the aim of grouping exhibitors by content and visitor target so as to amplify the value and meaning of the visitor experience. The ring-shaped layout chosen for both biennial events is more intuitive, being simple to walk and easy to remember, and the exhibition offering is full of significance along the whole route. A symmetrical path has been created by setting the stands against the external perimeter walls, the main aisles have been made wider to improve orientation and cultural installations and breakout areas have been installed to cope with the typical museum fatigue also experienced at the Salone despite the wonders on display. In particular, to visit all the stands, visitors will have to walk just 640 meters instead of the previous 1.2 kilometers.

Among the digital services, in addition to the introduction of packages with diversified digital and communication products, there will be matchmaking and appointment booking services at the stands that will optimize your time at the fair and ensure you obtain quality contacts in real time. On the visitor side, online ticketing services, wayfinding for exhibitors and the possibility of preparing the visit using widely available dedicated services will be very practical.

The new communication campaign by Publicis Groupe

This was devised and created by Publicis Groupe with scientific input from Paolo Ciuccarelli, professor of design and founder of the DensityDesign Lab at the Politecnico di Milano and the Center for Design at Northeastern University, Boston. The concept is “Where Design Evolves”. It captures the evolutionary essence of the Salone del Mobile.Milano by interpreting a single great story in three different key visuals in which the exponents are the design communities, the professionals in the sector and the experience of the event itself. Much more than just an effective artwork, the goal is to involve, relate and explore the deep connections between design and those who live by it, between those who create it and those who talk about it and give a visual account of it, enabling us to perceive its evolution through Artificial Intelligence.

“Capturing new trends, the evolution of an entire sector, by involving and listening to communities near and far, identifying new approaches, methodologies and technologies, experimenting, being on the frontier, as they say: this is still the ambition of the Salone del Mobile today,” comments Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile.Milano. “Neuroscience, artificial intelligence, new formats and paths, a unitary but widespread cultural project, encompassing consistency and multi-disciplinarity. David Lynch's thinking rooms, the Salotto NY installation that takes us underwater, using poetry and numbers to take stock of the state of the art of the bathroom industry. Then there are the talks with a large number of guests, including the Pritzker Prize-winner Francis Kéré and the visionary performances of artists and food designers: everything has been designed to offer visitors and exhibitors an exceptional experience in terms of content and container, impossible to replicate except here, at the Salone di Milano, unthinkable to miss, even though it is not limited to a single week, but is spread throughout the whole year thanks to the driving and inclusive force of our digital platform.”

Some numbers: the 2024 Events will bring together a total of almost 1,900 exhibitors, including 600 young talents under 35 and 22 design schools. The events returning are the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, the Salone Internazionale del Complemento d’Arredo, Workplace3.0, S.Project, EuroCucina, the Salone Internazionale del Bagno and the SaloneSatellite. They have all been renewed, laid out on a single level with aesthetic routes, experiential spaces and rest and breakout areas. They will include talks and round tables with international guests, vertical workshops on hot topics in design, and training meetings for young people. And then again, immersive and interactive site-specific installations to learn about the state of the art of the industry or reflect on the physical and emotional value of interiors. An exciting, subjective, memorable exploration capable of creating long-term connections (including business contacts).

“The appointment with the Salone del Mobile.Milano will, as always, be the industry’s most important business opportunity and a chance for the entire wood-furniture supply chain to show off the quality of its production, in which research, innovation, craftsmanship and sustainability come together. We represent a sector that in 2023 had a turnover of 52.6 billion euros, around 20 billion euros in exports and 32.7 billion on the domestic market, closing the year 8.1% down on 2022, albeit at higher levels than in 2019. In the face of a physiological decline in domestic demand, following two years of exceptional growth, also due to important consumption stimulus, our furniture macro-system has a turnover of 28 billion euros, 53% of which derives from exports worldwide, despite an uncertain economic context, with the main reference markets such as Germany and the United States struggling. Given such a complex and evolving situation, being able to count on an international showcase such as the Salone del Mobile.Milano is crucial factor for us, an event that will allow us not only to dictate trends to industry professionals, the press and visitors, but which will also enable exhibitors to gain a broad picture of markets all over the world. FederlegnoArredo, which represents the beautiful, well made and sustainable supply chain, strengthened by the added value of our design, confirms its commitment to its member companies from the Rho Fiera Milan pavilions, in the firm belief that competitiveness goes hand in hand with a concrete commitment to the issues of environmental, economic and social sustainability,” comments Claudio Feltrin, President of FederlegnoArredo.

EuroCucina 2024: from a multifunctional space to an open and holistic sharing project

The development and evolution of the format and the experience of visiting the Biennial exhibitions devoted to the Bathroom and Kitchen is being renewed through collaboration with Lombardini22. It has rethought the layout with the aim of creating an increasingly contemporary business platform. EuroCucina 2024 will be presented in Pavilions 2 and 4, with 100 exhibitors, where the kitchen design reflects the narratives and values of a complex age: the longing for conviviality, well-being, serenity, nature and sustainability. The 9th edition of FTK, Technology For the Kitchen, EuroCucina’s collateral event, this year will stress opportunities for reflecting on built-in technology and furnishing extractor hoods through the presentation of innovative products, prototypes and concepts of the future of the art of preserving and cooking.

International Bathroom Exhibition 2024: tailor-made wellness zones that are friendly to the water footprint

Now in its 10th edition, the International Bathroom Exhibition is confirmed as the most important international event for those involved in bathroom furnishings, combining functional products, a concern for the water footprint and energy expenditure with a hedonistic and aesthetic component. Pavilions 6 and 10 will host 180 exhibitors, covering an area of 18,000 square meters, showcasing the finest international products: from furnishings and accessories to shower enclosures, sanitary porcelain, radiators, taps andtubs. The bathroom is a veritable extension and integration of the living room, offering storage and furnishing systems with forms and materials that could well be at ease in living rooms and bedrooms.

The rich cultural program at the Salone del Mobile 2024

For this year's edition, the Salone has prepared a cultural program made up of new forms of experimentation, comparison and in-depth analysis. It will be a widespread proposal accompanying the whole itinerary of the visit, with three large installations as protagonists.

“Interiors by David Lynch. A Thinking Room” (Pavilions 5-7) is the installation that David Lynch, the famous filmmaker of the unconscious, has given the Salone del Mobile. Two identical and mirrored “thought rooms” are imagined as symbolic doors to pass through and become immersed in the Manifestation. An original and imaginative reflection on the production of interiors and on how this exists in a profound relationship with the inwardness of those who furnish these spaces, not for a mere decorative purpose but because they are experienced as an external projection of the self.

The 25th edition of the SaloneSatellite

The most authoritative event in the field of “young” design, conceived and curated by Marva Griffin Wilshire, this year will be celebrating its 25th edition with 600 talents and 22 design schools. The theme “Connecting Design since 1998” will be presented in Pavilions 5-7 to highlight how this event has, for a quarter of a century, introduced and nurtured more than 14,000 budding designers and woven fruitful relationships between cultures and projects from around the world. To complete the celebrations, a major exhibition will be staged from 16 to 28 April in the spaces of La Triennale, with an exhibition project curated by Beppe Finessi and designed by Ricardo Bello Dias that rethinks the Event’s whole history, without falling into the trap of the mere parade of objects. On the contrary, it will stage the wonderful and complex relationship between the world of production and these young talents, who have brought new ideas to design and the domestic universe from many different parts of the world. There will also be the SaloneSatellite Award, now in its thirteenth edition. The ceremony will be held in the early afternoon of Wednesday 17 April.

The commitment to a sustainable Salone del Mobile.Milano 2024 continues

The cultural events place the accent on environmental, economic and social responsibility (the Salone has been ISO 20121 certified since the last edition), in collaboration with the Department and School of Design of the Politecnico di Milano. The purpose is to establish a permanent observatory for the analysis of the Salone del Mobile/Milano Design Week ecosystem and its impact on the community in terms of sustainability, inclusion, circularity, growth and transfer of skills, representing the main project that the Event has ever tackled in this field.

The Event is renewing its Sustainability Policy by raising the bar of its objectives, launching collaborations with certified suppliers or those able to provide recycled, recyclable or reusable materials for the construction of the communal areas. In addition, it will work to regenerate the resources consumed and absorb the waste produced. It will choose institutional partners who have a real focus on people and the planet at the center of their strategy, and it has already expanded the guidelines for sustainable installations proposed last year to the exhibiting companies. The Event also confirms its adherence to the United Nations Global Compact.

Salone del Mobile 2024: partnerships and collaborations

The Salone del Mobile.Milano renews the institutional partnership between Intesa Sanpaolo and the Salone. Aesop, a cutting-edge Australian company for face, hair and body care, is now in its first partnership. It is continuing its collaboration with Panerai as Official Time Keeper and with Radio Deejay, Radio Capital and Radio m2o. The official partners Piquadro, Cà del Bosco, S. Bernardo and illycaffè confirm their support. Highsnobiety also returns with the multi-channel project “Not In”, a series celebrating cultural capitals worldwide: the new collection will offer a printed shirt, a graphic sweatshirt and various accessories.

The 2024 edition of the International Bathroom Exhibition will see the debut of a new synergy with ANGAISA, the association of Italian plumbing and heating distributors, a member of Confcommercio and Federcostruzioni.

Also confirmed this year is the collaboration with Fuorisalone. It will enhance the visibility of the exhibitors through a strategic presence on the map of Fuorisalone.it showing both their position in the pavilions at the fair and their events in the city.

The Hospitality Project will be renewed for the ninth year running, the fruit of the collaboration with the Municipality of Milan, Fondazione Fiera and the main design schools of the city – NABA, New Academy of Fine Arts, IED European Institute of Design, School of Design/Politecnico di Milano and Domus Academy. The Salone will set up welcome stations located at key points in the city, manned by a hundred students, who will provide the public with information about mobility in the city, about the fair itself and also about the main events taking place in Milan.

The collaboration with the Teatro alla Scala Foundation is back for the fourth consecutive year. A combination stemming from the desire to combine shared values and which has the double objective of promoting and enhancing the talent of the Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala while offering the design community the opportunity to enjoy a unique experience. This year, conducted by Riccardo Chailly and sung by tenor Juan Diego Flórez, the Salone del Mobile.Milano sees Federlegno Arredo Eventi actively collaborate with the Agenzia ICE. This is the Italian government agency that supports the economic and commercial development of our companies abroad and helps attract foreign investments to Italy, with the aim of devising a set of strategic activities to stimulate interest and participation by foreign operators, in particular buyers, architects, interior designers and journalists in the various editions of the Salone. Once again this year, ICE has provided the Salone del Mobile.Milano with important and invaluable support to bring the greatest number of qualified foreign operators to Milan. This testifies to the country's ability to create a system for the benefit of companies and regions.