Salone del Mobile.Milano has announced the opening dates and events program, expanding the trade fair event to encompass more narratives and projects relevant to the design community. The 62nd edition will take place at Rho Fiera Ilano from April 16 to 21, 2024. It is expected to include over 1900 exhibitors from around the world, with contributions from emerging designers and several design schools under the recurring SaloneSatellite, now in its 25th-anniversary edition. The cultural program also includes immersive installations, like David Lynch’s “Thinking Rooms.”
After the 2023 edition of the international fair included the biennial Euroluce, this year’s Salone will host EuroCucina, a biennial exhibition focused on kitchen and bathroom design. The exhibition is developed in collaboration with Lombardini22, creating a display that reflects the new narratives of today, with a renewed focus on conviviality, well-being, nature, and sustainability. Additionally, EuroCucina’s collateral event, FTK – Technology For the Kitchen, will present innovative products and prototypes that reimagine the future of cooking.
The organizers have also released layouts of the exhibitions featuring layouts that prioritize human-centric routes informed by collaborations between architects and neuroscientists. “The Salone del Mobile will be the first trade fair to use neuroscience as a tool for detecting visitor satisfaction levels and improving the visitor experience inside the pavilions by optimizing the pathways,” declares Andrea Vaiani, the fair’s Exhibitions Director. The result is a redesigned space for EuroCucina, FTK, and the International Bathroom Exhibition that ensures optimized routes for visitors.
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12 Architecture Events to Pay Attention to in 2024The layout also includes several large installations as part of the Salone’s expansive cultural program that aims to provide visitors with new forms of experimentation, comparison, and analysis. “Interiors by David Lynch. A Thinking Room” (Pavilions 5-7) is the installation created by famous filmmaker David Lynch to provoke visitors to reflect on the production of interiors and their relationship with inwardness and introspection.
Additionally, Emiliano Ponzi, Accurat, and Design Group Italia propose an immersive installation titled “Under the Surface” for the central space of the International Bathroom Exhibition, in Pavilion 10. Recreating the image of a submerged island, the interactive artwork impels visitors to think about their relationship with the most precious natural resource on Earth.
Neuroscience, artificial intelligence, new formats and paths, a unitary but widespread cultural project, encompassing consistency and multi-disciplinarity. David Lynch’s Thinking Rooms, the Salotto NY installation that takes us underwater, using poetry and numbers to take stock of the state of the art of the bathroom industry. - Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile.Milano
The full program of Talks and Round Tables entitled “Drafting Futures. Conversations about Next Perspectives” will be curated by Annalisa Rosso. The series aims to bring together renowned figures like Pritzker Prize winner Francis Kéré, Jeanne Gang, and John Pawson in conversation with author and critic Deyan Sudjic. In the "Drafting Futures" Arena designed by Formafantasma, discussions will address a wide range of topics, from the use of artificial intelligence, the relationship between boating and design, and news in the hospitality sector. A new addition is the Salone del Mobile Library, also designed by Formafantasma, offering a diverse array of international titles.
Salone del Mobile.Milano is included in ArchDaily’s list of most anticipated architecture and design-related events happening in 2024. In its previous edition, several internationally recognized architects have contributed with architect-designed objects. Additionally, on the same occasion, intriguing and immersive installations were scattered in Milano, highlighting its historical heritage and experimenting with new materials and building technologies.
