In photo above: Conditional Longevity: The Umbrellas by Charlie Humble-Thomas, RCA Royal College of Art, selected and shown at The Lost Graduation Show at the Supersalone 2021, Milan, Italy, (Image credit: Charlie Humble-Thomas).
Curated by the architect Stefano Boeri and his dream team of co-designers, featuring 425 brands, 170 young creatives and 39 makers, for a total 1,900 projects on exhibit, the buzzwords around “supersalone” were: restarting, safety and sustainability. Plus a brandnew opportunity to experience its new real and digital dimension. From 5th to 10th September 2021, more than 1,900 projects (from exhibiting brands, selfproducers, designers and young 2020/2021 graduates), filled the first four pavilions of the Milan Rho Fairgrounds (68,520mq overall) with a packed public programme that included over 40 famous speakers (architects, innovators, visionaries, entrepreneurs, artists and politicians), a number of films shown in partnership with the Milano Design Film Festival, four Food Courts conceived by Identità Golose and starring nine of the greatest interpreters of Italian cuisine and a large ADI/Compasso d’Oro exhibition, intended to underscore the points of contact between different sectors, experiment with new exhibition formats, draw in and motivate visitors. Also, and especially to fire up the engines of the design city par excellence: Milan. That, in essence, is “supersalone” – the Salone del Mobile.Milano event entrusted this year to its curator Stefano Boeri and an international group of co-planners – Andrea Caputo, Maria Cristina Didero, Anniina Koivu, Lukas Wegwerth, Marco Ferrari and Elisa Pasqual of Studio Folder, and Giorgio Donà, co-founder and director of Stefano Boeri Interiors.
The major theme underpinning “supersalone” was certainly the concept of sustainability and the issue of reuse, recycling and circularity. This approach is crucial in terms of returning not just to the same level of economic development as before the recent crisis, but also to striving for “better and more responsible development.” As part of the strategy for building the event, priority has been given to hire and reuse, in order to cut material waste as much as possible. The spaces available to the companies have been designed to allow the products to stand out, while keeping the use of support structures to a minimum. All the materials and components of the installation conceived by Andrea Caputo – long parallel sets designed for the specific goods categories – and by Stefano Boeri Interiors – the communal areas: food courts, arenas, lounges – have been achieved using a reduced quantity of chipboard panels (1,230 mc), made from 100% recycled wood, channelled back into the production cycle with a view to circularity, saving 553,500 kilograms of CO2 from being emitted into the atmosphere. Everything has been designed to be dismantled and subsequently reused: the display systems have no loose components and were fully recycled post-exhibit; the lounge areas, the benches and the chairs have all been “dry” mounted and can also be disassembled and used again at different times and in different contexts.
All the bricks making up the display sets for The Lost Graduation Show, one of the true highlights of the fair, were totally reusable and are part of a system of modular, locally sourced Ytong autoclaved, aereated, concrete blocks: once disassembled, all the components were ploughed back into the construction production cycle. Not all the drapes used in the display will be printed or coloured, so that they can be more easily reused and, in a bid to avoid wasting material, “supersalone” did not produce brochures or information material on paper.
The Identità Golose Food Courts used only compostable cutlery and crockery. The beverage areas also minimised the use of plastic, in favour of 100% recyclable PET. Underscoring the green mission of “supersalone,” some of the 200 trees donated by the Salone del Mobile.Milano to Forestami, were positioned at the Porta Est/East Gate entrance, and some inside the pavilions. They were lated replanted in Milan’s Parco Nord, helping to expand one of the Metropolitan City of Milan’s “green lungs.” This stunning forest of greenery provided a warm welcoming and accompanied “supersalone” visitors to a fascinating and original setting. This immersive and sensory experience engaged the public and prepared them for an exhibition with the accent firmly on sustainability. The “forest” did n't simply stop at the entrance but winded its way to the heart of the event, where another hundred tall trees emerged inside the various exhibition spaces and the many rest and relaxation areas.
Amping up this green area was the sound art installation at the entrance to the event, the art project Resonantrees Performing Marco Mengoni by the Sound Artist Federico Ortica. Driving the project is the idea of combining eco-sustainability with the compositional potential of trees as a source of acoustic resonance.
One of the most keenly-awaited exhibitions at “supersalone” was The Lost Graduation Show as mentionned, curated by Anniina Koivu, which showcased 170 projects by students who graduated between 2020 and 2021 from 48 design schools in 22 different countries. It was a tough choice given that almost 300 schools in 59 countries responded to the open call in early June. The event owes its appeal to a format that represents a first for the Salone, spanning the full spectrum of furniture design, and more. The state of the art of the industry was on show through projects focussing on design in the areas of mobility, healthcare and sport, inclusive design, materials research and sustainability, drawing attention to how contemporary design has evolved and how it can be communicated.
"The Lost Graduation Show provides an unrivaled opportunity to pick up where we left off and home in on the most urgent issues design needs to tackle, as well as decide on the right direction to move in. How better to kick off than by listening to the issues young designers are raising, and the solutions they are coming up with? Best of all will be finding out that the things young creatives mostly care about are surprisingly similar all over the world. Bringing them all together on a global stage offers a chance to start over again.” ,said Anniina Koivu, curator of the exhibition.
(in picture bellow: Tre Miglia by Matteo Brasili, NABA Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti Milano, 4 The Lost Graduation Show, image credit: Matteo Brasili)
The Makers Show was the section of the “supersalone”, dedicated to self-producing designers from all over the world, showcasing the output of ateliers, studios, workshops and start-ups that combined design experimentation with new production techniques and research into materials. An overall snapshot of independent design and the new directions it is taking, this contribution to the group exhibition offered an even more comprehensive overview of diversity in the world of creative living.
A fluid, cross-cutting exhibition, the Makers Show embraced different areas of design, from furniture to accessories, in one place, it brought together objects that embodied the new economic, social, productive and relational values conveyed by the confluence of craft skills with new digital knowledge, local knowledge, global needs, specialized skills and collective narratives. Through all these pieces, the “Supersalone” is an incubator of new stories, offering an opportunity to discover original products, stay abreast of emerging phenomena, and keep up with the independent design market evolution, in direct contact with its leading exponents.
(in picture bellow: Industrial design by Michal Kleiner, Shenkar School, Israel, 4 The Makers Show, image credit: Michael Shvadron)
The “supersalone” Open Talks provided opportunities for discussion, dialogue and inclusion in order to draw up a roadmap for design in the near future. A programme put together by Maria Cristina Didero focusing on the great contemporary issues such as design, art, architecture, education, gender, the circular economy, environmental impact, the relationship between project and curation and much more- with legendary speakers bringing up their light, knowledge and experience in the likes of Italian Minister for Ecological Transition Roberto Cingolani, Humberto Campana (:in picture bellow with his brother Fernando), Bjarke Ingels, Hans Ulrich Obrist to Carsten Höller, Alejandro Aravena to Michele de Lucchi, Beatriz Colomina to Cecilia Alemani, Formafantasma to Philippe Malouin, Cristina Bowerman to Davide Oldani.
Since 1961 Milan has put together an impressive array of exhibitions, events, performances, installations, advertising campaigns and publications that have supported the Salone and forged strong ties with the international design community and the local community at large. il Salone / la Città, an exhibition/event conceived by the Triennale Milano Italian Design Museum for the Salone del Mobile.Milano and curated by Mario Piazza is a portrayal of the most memorable cultural productions that the Salone del Mobile has staged with the aim of generating understanding and respect for design among enthusiasts and consumers alike. Compressed into a single event are the main themes: craftsmanship, early explorations into the concept of "furniture", the great masters, the birth of "Italian style", the theme of living, food culture, the environment and finite resources.
(in photo bellow: Enzo Mari: 1976-2008, 44 Evaluations Installation view - © Triennale Milano - foto Gianluca Di Ioia)
Every year we are raving about the Salone hospitality and the wonders of Italian gastronomy offered magnanimously to the visitors and the Press. This year was no exception but furthermore it arose the concept of Identità Golose Food Courts, a new tailormade event to “supersalone”, designed as both an integral part of the visitor experience , but also an opportunity to savour the original recipes of some of the greatest Italian chefs and artisans. The gastronomic creations on offer consisted of an invitation to sample top quality cuisine, catering to every taste and requirement. With the Identità Golose Food Courts, “supersalone” ventured on an inspirational journey that highlighted Italian creativity and excellence in the realm of food, fostering a joyful, varied and successful approach toward making food an integral part of all the wonders of the actual fair landscape.
Check our Pinterest Board Of Faves, fueled by divine, new creations + products from the top companies, brands and studios at the supersalone 2021 here.
...“We invested and planned, with the focus on quality, sustainability and the digital dimension, and the upshot has been that our enthusiasm has been clear for all to see, our ability to create a system and look beyond business yet again in order to provide a global experience, albeit in a different form, at which what really counted was innovation, commitment and cohesion. We lit the fuse and sparked a chain reaction that has involved the entire international design community, the city of Milan and the sector as a whole. We are now looking to the future, with a renewed appreciation of the value and the history of this collective heritage, keen to embrace the new challenges by getting straight to work on the 60th edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, which will be held from 5th to 10th April 2022.” ...
Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile.Milano at her farewell speech.
We are full of gratitude to all organizing parties for this immensely successful supersalone and we are looking forward to April 2022, and the Salone del Mobile 60th Anniversary Edition, a memorable moment for the design industry and the continent's creative history and projection to future ecosystems. Until then, keep checking all Salone del Mobile social media for updates, because the best is yet to come.
#InSupersaloneWeTrust
https://www.facebook.com/salonedelmobileofficial
https://twitter.com/isaloniofficial
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0SnQ3uE9C5vtBqM91X0EIA
https://www.instagram.com/isaloniofficial/
https://www.pinterest.it/isaloni/
A4D-D4A💙💚🙌
