The press conference for the 57th edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano was held in the Bocconi University’s Aula Magna and presented by Barbara Stefanelli, Deputy Editor of the Corriere della Sera. Claudio Luti, President of the Salone del Mobile, Giuseppe Sala, Mayor of Milan, and the architects Piero Lissoni, Fabio Novembre and Stefano Boeri contributed to the first half. They had all gathered to comment on the first Salone del Mobile Manifesto and the cornerstones on which it hinges - Emotion, Business, Quality, Design, System, Young people, Communication, Culture, Milan at the Centre – basically all the strengths that have seen the Salone del Mobile become a global experience, the very best of its kind and an emotion, above all.

“The Salone del Mobile now needs to keep evolving and consolidating its links with Milan. The first Manifesto is a commitment to keep striving to do better, and is an invitation to Milan to keep networking, building on the centripetal and attractive power of the Salone and consolidating the city’s role as ‘the place to be’ for leading brands, their projects and their human and financial resources”, said Claudio Luti.

On the subject of emotion, innovation and team work, Giuseppe Sala had this to say: "Nobody should think they are better than the others, nobody should think they can do without the others. The Salone is the best mouthpiece for the enterprising, young, concrete and visionary spirit of the city of Milan”.

Piero Lissoni reflected on the concept of quality: “Carrying off a high quality project calls for complex alchemy and people who believe in it, such as the industrialists, the craftsmen and those who rise to the challenge on a daily basis to produce something […]; you need to be a bit crazy and be prepared to take risks, to throw yourself into it with all your heart and mind. Without all these factors you get precisely nowhere”.

Fabio Novembre spoke about the importance of system building: “Everyone is useful and everyone is indispensible […]. Milan is a large mantle that we all put on and should ensure that everyone who comes to the city puts on. It’s like a very creative, comfortable and elegant piece of clothing that alters people’s perceptions. We should each be proud to wear this city, and make our own effort to create a collective joy”.

Stefano Boeri discussed the theme of Milan at the Centre: “As you go about the world, you realise just how unique this small, very intense metropolis is. Milan is a unique city that has managed to create a miracle. The hard work and innovation of the business world, the creative risk of the designers, the desire to invent new spaces - all this has gone into making Milanese and Italian design legendary and is still, even now, the crucial key to deciphering Milan”.

The architect and engineer Carlo Ratti then talked about the great exhibition-installation at the Salone del Mobile.Milano 2018 - a project that will explore the relationship between nature and living designed to trigger ideas about green design inside the home. “We started with the key theme of Nature, the desire to bring nature into the city in a different way, and the desire to reconnect with it by following the seasons. We want to make a dream come true, by creating a domestic space in which all four seasons can be experienced simultaneously thanks to climate control systems”. An experiment well worth engaging with from 17th to 25th April, opposite Palazzo Reale in Piazza del Duomo.

During the second half of the conference, Michele Scannavini, President of the Italian Trade Agency ICE underscored the value of the Salone as a symbol and manifestation of the increasing internationalisation that Milan and Made in Italy have undergone over the last few years with more than positive results: “The Salone del Mobile is an effective illustration of innovation and quality, craftsmanship and ability to create a system. The innovation and creativity of Italian products, underpinned by the coordinated action of businesses, associations and institutions, saw exports grow 1.7% in 2017 and enabled us to achieve major goals on both the European and far flung markets, such as China, where Italy has become the leading supplier of furniture”.

In his closing remarks, Emanuele Orsini, President of Federlegno Arredo Eventi, reiterated the vital importance of the companies behind the Salone del Mobile: “The guiding spirit of this edition of the Salone del Mobile is a new concept of system building, dovetailing with the best Milanese tradition, bringing together business and the quest for style, industry and aesthetics, and which, every year in April, sees Milan crowned the international capital of design. The story began in 1961, when a small group of furniture makers under the aegis of FederlegnoArredo decided to launch a trade fair free from confusion and misunderstanding. Since then Milan and its Salone have rapidly come to resemble each other and together they constitute the most recent ongoing phenomenon in Italian history”.

Lastly, Claudio Luti announced that this year again the Salone del Mobile.Milan would be acknowledging the value of outstanding concepts, creativity, innovation and technology. The third edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano Award will be a great celebration of design, with a ceremony on Friday 20th April at Palazzo Marino.

Events

Press Conference