Salone del Mobile.Milano 2023: Towards a New Taxonomy of the Trade Fair.
The Milan trade fair, the international point of reference for the furnishing and design sector, has reclaimed its traditional spot in the calendar, boasting a totally new format and multidisciplinary cultural content for Euroluce, and a decision to plan the 2023 edition on one single level at the fairgrounds, thus acting as a shockwave and paving the way for the new design of the trade fair event.
The 61st edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano is being held at Fiera Milano Rho from 18th to 23rd April, bringing its “good looking” and “well made” products back onto what is an internationally important stage. Its return is, in itself, somewhat exceptional, not just in terms of the quality of the proposals and the companies taking part, but also because of the acceleration of the process of transformation and evolution of the trade fair that the event will be seen to have made.
Overall, the 2023 events will bring together 1962 exhibitors, including more than 550 young talents under 35 and 27 design schools.
The Salone has always been testament to an extraordinary curiosity, willingness and openness to comparison and a huge desire and ability to improve, innovating consolidated formulas. Over the last few difficult years, there has been much reflection, research and questioning around the future of trade fairs, leading to a concrete revision of the exhibition format in a bid to be able to continue to generate value for the entire design community.
Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, had this to say:
“One of the characteristics of the Salone del Mobile is its ability to evolve in order to respond to the most urgent challenges of contemporary life. We did so in 2021, when we invented Supersalone, the first global event after the really tough years of the pandemic, and with last June’s edition, when we went back to the traditional format, getting to grips with sustainability, and this we have continued to do for the 2023 edition. The idea of simply reverting to April, our traditional spot in the calendar, after three years, as if nothing had happened, was unthinkable. We worked on giving shape to the suggestions and visions that have emerged over the last few years, based on a couple of simple questions: what is the new role of the Salone? How and where to start redesigning its evolution? We listened to the needs of those who make and experience the Salone, exhibitors and visitors alike, holding more than 2,300 interviews and themed work groups. This fostered the idea for an exhibition on one single level to facilitate the flows and we took an almost “urbanistic” approach to the internal design of the pavilions. Taking our cue from Euroluce, the biennial devoted to the lighting world – which has changed so markedly over the last few years – we redesigned the path, integrating the spaces for companies with interdisciplinary cultural content connected with the relationship between light, architecture, art and science. A metamorphosis likely to interest the Salone as a whole, geared to helping redesign the trade fair model.”