Asleep for a year and a half due to the pandemic, as if by magic, Milan wakes up thanks to the “kiss” of the supersalone: a fairy tale with a happy ending that not only the world of design, but the whole city experienced in the days of Milano Design Week.
The joy, the enthusiasm to return to normalcy were tangible.
Thanks above all to the troubled supersalone which, in the end, won its bet.
Now the focus is already on the “real” Salone del Mobile next April, with its new president Maria Porro and the awareness that the basic edition of 2021 has triggered a new language and new visions and has something to teach also for great manifestations of the near future.
This unprecedented show has satisfied – and probably exceeded – everyone’s expectations; even who had been critical had to change their minds. It was right to make this anomalous September edition; this “transition” formula has proved suitable for the exceptional situation we have experienced and are still experiencing.
There are no better words than those of the curator Stefano Boeri to describe the supersalone. “Open to the public, to digital interaction and purchase, with a clear display format capable of enhancing the products, completely recyclable in the materials and disassembled in the fittings, the supersalone was the demonstration that, in times of difficulty, the intertwining of courage, passion and clarity in objectives is a lever that can change the world. “
Clearly emerged the strong symbolic value of the Salone, its role as a flywheel in triggering the impulse we needed. Because, let’s face it: the Fuori Salone cannot exist without the Salone del Mobile (in any of its declinations).
While affirming the merit of the great events / institutions / museums that are the cornerstone of the entire Design Week, the gratitude goes above all to the companies that have accepted the challenge, believed in this supersalone and have generously put themselves into play (… despite someone having accused entrepreneurs of avarice!) and together with the organization they created this little “miracle in Milan” in record time.
The quality of the new products on display is unexceptionable, which the essentiality of the set-up has highlighted. While they counterpointed the splendid exhibition “Take a seat” dedicated to the chair, organized by the Adi Design Museum with the display of the masterpieces of its historical archive. and the sections dedicated to young designers and the Best of Class 2020/21 Award which highlighted the breadth of design application fields that go well beyond furniture.
A Design that uses innovative or traditional technologies, addresses the needs of developing countries in particular and has an eco-sustainable vision as its basic approach.
The Wall of Products
A reflection, in particular, deserves the much talked about setting conceived by Lukas Wegwerth.
A modular set-up in metal and raw wood, easy to assemble and disassemble, designed to be reused in other exhibitions, which creates deliberately rough vertical walls where to display the products, with black passages that allow them to pass through and open spaces occupied by stools and plants.
Certainly we can think of the changes or improvements that the tight deadlines have probably not allowed to implement, but this format proves to be valid and it is not excluded that some re-use will also be made at the next Salone del Mobile.
A democratic setting with which you can also create small sets and therefore allow you to participate in the Show with a reasonable investment.
A “measured” setting, much more in keeping with the current situation where the exaggeration of the ultra-luxurious 1000 square meter stands with inside restaurants would be definitely out of place.
A physical setting that perfectly integrates digital communication, and allowed exhibitors to involve visitors and give them exciting experiences even without the surface and super-imagine-oriented usual fair stands.
A versatile setting that took nothing away from creativity. Someone had seen verticality as a limit to the possibility of exhibiting, but the facts have shown that the Wall enhances the products (for example Arper, Caimi, Pedrali), allows for high-impact scenographies (Porro, Estel, CUF Milano) and above all it is not a limit to the visionary attitude as in the case of the emblematic airplane with its animated portholes, conceived by Ron Gilad for Molteni, capable of making Design dream, and of making us all fly high again.
Text by Renata Sias
supersalone in numbers
425 exhibiting brands (16% foreign) as well as 170 young students from 22 countries and 39 independent designers. Over 60 thousand visitors, in six days from 113 countries. More than half were sector operators and buyers (47% from abroad). Almost 1,800 accredited journalists from all over the world.
The new digital platform of the Salone del Mobile.Milano amplified the event by creating a community.Over 22 thousand QR code scan through the new app. The Web has counted on 1.5 million page views with an average of 90 thousand daily users. The new TikTok account of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, with 19 videos uploaded in the first 5 days of supersalone, had more than 630,000 total views, while 2,000 streams for the first three episodes of the Super! Podcast are 2,000. immediately entered the Apple Podcast Top 100 Italy. Social channels (Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter) recorded 15 million impressions, 25 thousand interactions and 50 thousand video views.
