Truly by Design

The Salone del Mobile

By Jacqueline Felber

As the most influential global design event, the Salone del Mobile in Milan opened its doors in April to reveal the most unexpected new comers of the home and interior markets.

For its second consecutive year, Fiera of Rho-Pero in Milan is host to Salone del Mobile, alongside the major lighting exhibition Euroluce. The Fiera, a new architectural complex designed by Massimiliano Fuksas, has become a landmark hosting thousands of visitors from around the globe, from manufacturers to designers, tourists to locals, and the design savvy who arrive in Milan to discover the present and future of furniture as art.

One arrives at the Milano Fiera as if he had landed into a different world. In a remote location from the noisy and clotted city of Milan, the complex welcomes its visitors with quiet lakes and a grandiose view of its mountain-like glass structures. Bright and airy, quiet and spacious, the architecture creates a nature of its own with a forest of metal trees covering its alleys and a feather-like cloud filtering out lights and sounds of the outer world.

In Fuksas’ architectural land, entering with expectations is a promise to be surprised. With the world’s major global brands showcasing breath-taking installations, visiting the fair is a unique experience. Whether it’s Cassina, Moroso or B&B, brands translate their iconic worlds by speaking the language of the senses. One can sit on new chairs made of the most innovative materials, take a rest at Poltrona Frau’s atrium where curtains of light feature projections of their latest products, sip wine at Moroso’s while meditating on the surprising encounter of eastern and western cultures in their newest collection, or wonder how Philippe Starck’s “Mr. Impossible” chair has possibly been made in one piece.

Here in Milan, at the Salone, there’s hope for international design firms as they display their work, hoping to lure new and interested eyes. From New York firms to Dutch designers, the simple to obscure is on display.

In design, one can see three types of products: “Walkers,” “Runners,” and “Winners.” “Walkers” last the longest. They are products which stand the test of time and remain through generations. Sometimes iconic and sometimes classic pieces, the “Walkers” are items that trends do not affect.

“Runners” come faster and offer immediate solutions. They respond directly to what we call the Zeitgeist or spirit of the moment. Often technological innovations, they also have a shorter life span.

Finally, “Winners” are the ones independent of trends and times in favor of innovation. Often the trendsetters and intriguing masterpieces, they create “desire.” From innovative approaches in the manufacturing processes to the technological, functional, and aesthetic breakthroughs, “Winners” are what makes the Salone del Mobile, quite simply put, a winner.

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