Salone del Mobile.Milano presents Milan Design (Eco) System

A project conceived and promoted by the event under the scientific supervision of the Politecnico di Milano. Objective: to start from the data to inform the future of an event, which generates value for the competitiveness of the national productive and cultural system

37 data holders, 86 sources, 10 Working Tables with 130 stakeholders and 530 field observations. These are some of the numbers that sum up the research work that has converged in Milan Design (Eco) System, the first chapter of a larger project conceived and promoted by the Salone del Mobile, with the scientific supervision of the Politecnico di Milano. Its aim is to discover, for the first time in a database, the dimensions and dynamics of the great international event that every year in April generates economic growth and innovation, contributing significantly to the identity of Milan, the Design Capital. The research project was presented (relive the event) on 28 November at the Piccolo Teatro Grassi, where for the occasion the Keynote Speech was given by Charles Landry, essayist and urban sociologist, one of the leading international authorities on the uses of creativity and imagination in the rebirth of cities.

Milan Design (Eco) System provides a snapshot of a complex and dynamic ecosystem, which in 2024 registered record numbers: attendance totaled 370,824, with 65.6% from abroad, and its spin-offs in the city, a complementary element with its network of urban events (1,326 in the last edition). Divided into 8 chapters, over 260 pages and more than 90 charts, with graphic design by Linkiesta Studio, the project and the Report are curated by Susanna Legrenzi, Press & Communication Strategy Advisor of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, in synergy with the Department of Design - Politecnico di Milano, curated by Stefano Maffei, Full Professor; Francesco Zurlo, Full Professor; Massimo Bianchini, Associate Professor; Carla Sedini, Researcher; Francesco Leoni, Researcher.

The Report presents – in the form of a prototype – the framework that will guide the creation of the first Permanent Observatory devoted to an event unique worldwide. The analysis starts with a 360° account of the development of the model of the Salone. It shares insights and performance indicators for the 2024 edition. It then presents data and interpretations of the city's design week, analyzed through 260 surveys and 530 observations in the field. This is followed by the results of the survey on the impact generated by the event, which takes into consideration seven macro-themes: from visitor flows to digital spending and circularity. Bridging the gap between event and impact is the new exploration of the Milan Design System, commissioned by the Salone from the Politecnico, exactly 25 years since the first scientific research, from which it has taken its name.

Founded as a workshop for open and inclusive reflection, Milan Design (Eco) System finally brings together in the Appendix the summary contributions of the ten content leaders, who headed the Work Tables organized last July by the Salone and the Politecnico: over one hundred stakeholders for a participatory discussion on ten key themes related to the great event, from sustainability to legacy in the field of urban regeneration, all the way to possible strategies to be put in place to cope with challenges that can no longer be postponed, from hospitality to mobility, cybersquatting and other latent critical issues.

salonemilano, annual report — Donatella Sciuto, Rector of the Politecnico di Milano - Ph. Andrea Mariani

The first edition of the Report was made possible thanks to a sharing of objectives with the Municipality of Milan and the Lombardy Region, and through collaboration by the respective municipal and regional departments of competence, a large number of trade and professional associations, study and research centers that have made available a substantial, albeit fragmented, collection of data sets, a fundamental starting point for any reliable interpretation of the phenomenon.

“The aim of this Report is to share data and interpretations, in the service of the entire citizenry, to shape with greater awareness the strategies that have to guide the future, starting today,” says Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile.Milano. “The results of this exploration give a first shape to a vital ecosystem, which distinguishes, in its complementarity and synergy with the territory, what happens every year in April in Milan from what happens in other fairs and design weeks around the world. The main challenge – to be faced with the city, in all its instances – is to maintain the event’s power of attraction, maintaining the high quality of the offering and, at the same time, solving those latent critical issues that characterize events of this magnitude. Since the pandemic, the Salone has faced more than one challenge. The most important – after the slow return to “normality” – has been the push towards processes of internationalization, which engages our efforts 365 days a year.”