Following its touchdown in Miami during international art week, the Salone del Mobile is back in the United States with four new destinations in its sights. A fresh round of meetings, accompanied by digital insights, for an open dialogue with the entire design community in what is a key market for the sector.
The Salone del Mobile.Milano is back in the United States with its foot on the accelerator in terms of its international positioning with its roadshow, devised to share information on the upcoming edition – scheduled from 16th to 21st April 2024 in Milan – and also to discuss topics that represent the new frontier of home living, from sustainability to technological innovation, together with the entire American design community.
Following its two events in Miami – a meeting with industry professionals and an exclusive
networking evening organised with the architecture magazine
PIN UP – the Salone
started off in Dallas (23rd January),
New York (today, 25th January), and will continue in Las Vegas (20th February) and Chicago (22nd February). The
visits are co-planned and coordinated with
the support of the ITA – Italian Trade Agency, Miami Office, in charge to
promote Italian design nationwide in the US, in
collaboration with local branches of the AIA (American Institute
of Architects).
The United States is the second
largest market for Italian furnishing: Made in Italy enjoys an excellent reputation and design products notched up a significant
volume of sales even during the first
9 months of 2023 (albeit lower than in 2022), for a value of over 1.2 billion euros. In these areas, Italian product distribution channels – single
brand and specialist shops, architecture, design and
engineering practices, residential and contract construction companies - remain crucial, and have
always been innovative, sustainable and attentive to detail
and looks.
Therefore, the roadshow is a
unique vehicle for promoting all the initiatives and sharing information on the format and content of
the 62nd edition in Milan: the evolution of the layout and the exhibition pathways, the return of the biennial EuroCucina
and International Bathroom exhibitions, the celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of SaloneSatellite with a great exhibition at Triennale, and the
installations and Talks designed to trigger open discussion between business
and design culture
in the trade fair pavilions .
It will also provide further opportunity for reflection on the challenges of home living, hospitality and the contract sector today and going forward, and on how architecture is made, thanks to the involvement of special guests whose input will valorise the culture of design as narrated and interpreted by the Salone, underscoring quality, know-how, practical function and looks, the human and emotional component, sustainability and innovation.
The tour kicked off at The Joule Hotel in Dallas (23rd January), with a meeting during which Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, chatted to the architect Adam D. Tihany, one of the pioneers of the international hospitality sector. This was followed by a presentation organised in partnership with AIA Dallas for the Texan trade sector, in which the dual value of the event had been illustrated: – the commercial value, produced by the more than 2,000 brands that showcase their top furnishing and design products, pushing the value of experimentation, technological and responsible innovation and research – and the trade fair value produced by the evolution and metamorphosis of the event, demonstrating that the Salone has proved its versatility, resilience, ability to react and desire to reinvent itself, laying the foundations for the future evolution of the entire trade fair system.
Today, 25th January, it is the turn of New York with an exclusive press event at the iconic AKA Nomad Hotel, for a discussion between
Michele De Lucchi,
architect and founder
of AMDL CIRCLE
and the industrial designer Stephen Burks.
Both are excellent proof of the Salone del Mobile.Milano’s power
as a launchpad for projects
and personalities in the field
of design and as an unmissable
opportunity and place for discerning the latest trends, being able to physically touch the results of research into materials, studying the new relationship between design and technology, design and big data, and finding out about the new home
living needs. A subsequent meeting
at a prestigious Midtown restaurant, organised in collaboration with AIA (American Institute of Architects) NYC, will feature again Michele De Lucchi, flanked by the Lombardini22 studio – specialising in the Office,
Retail, Urban, Living,
Hospitality, Education, Data Centre, ESG, and Neuroscience sectors – which heads Guamari’s
Top 200 rankings of Italian architecture and design companies
based on turnover, and which will again be responsible for the redesign of the
visitor paths and layouts at the trade fair in 2024, putting the human experience at the centre
and leveraging neuroscience.
February will see the next legs take place, first in Las Vegas
(20th February) , then in Chicago (22nd February), where the meeting will be held in the White City Ball Room at the historic CAC Chicago Athletic Club building, where
the special guest will be the renowned engineering, architecture and urban planning practice Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM), invited to talk about their project
for the Olympic Village for
the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics and Paralympics, an
authentic laboratory of sustainable urban experimentation, thus bringing
the lengthy Salone
tour to a close with an “ideal”
return to Milan.
All this will be shared on
the Salone digital platform, attesting yet again to the fact that the trade fair isn’t just a physical benchmark furnishing and design event, but also an ecosystem capable of amplifying the
visibility and strengthening the business connections of the exhibiting companies and the entire international community that revolves around the design world.
Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, had this to say: “The Salone is back on the road with the intention of presiding over an extremely important market, the American market, which, despite the reflections and economic complexities of the last year, is once again one of the main outlets for Made in Italy design products – the second most important after France, accounting for a value of just over 1.2 billion euros – as well being an incredible place of experimentation, not least in design terms. It is also a point of reference for the contract sector, large residential projects and the hospitality industry, in which Italian design firms are increasingly involved and protagonists. The Salone’s role is becoming increasingly important and strategic, geared to supporting, promoting and communicating the excellence of Italian furniture in this market. The Salone represents a peerless link between the global economy and our furnishing manufacturing system, which we have a responsibility to convey around the world, whilst also being a magnet in Italy for all industry professionals in April. That is what we are working towards, that is why we are here.”
