The design pulse beats vigorously at the heart of Italy, where Salone del Mobile Milano 2024 unfolded with a record-breaking flourish. This year’s edition was marked by a record turnout and a strong presence of international exhibitors. Decorilla’s team was present at the center of events, bringing us a detailed glimpse into the current and future states of design.
What Is Salone del Mobile Milano?
Salone del Mobile is a trade fair but also a global forerunner in interior design trends. For over half a century, this furniture market has been defining and displaying cutting-edge design, taking the role of a hub where new ideas are born and celebrated.
Held annually in Milan, Italy, the exhibition transcends the conventional trade show format, drawing an eclectic mix of industry professionals. The main crowds are designers and manufacturers, but there is also an impressive influx of design aficionados from across the globe. This year’s edition, with a significant uptick in professional attendees (almost 400,000 visitors), best illustrates the fair’s role in the creative industry sector.
Major market geographies like China, Germany, and the US are particularly well-represented, contributing to a vibrant cultural and economic exchange.
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What Sets Salone del Mobile Apart from Other Design Fairs
Similar to Design Miami, Salone del Mobile doesn’t focus primarily on direct commercial transactions. It’s also a launching pad for new brands a well as the most prominent European stage for established designers to exhibit their latest creations.
The formal trade show, centered at the Fiera Milano complex, maintains a clear focus on business and innovation in furniture design. Its informal extension, Fuorisalone, simultaneously supports the creative segment as a decentralized set of events occurring in addition to the central affair. It offers a more eclectic, city-wide creative celebration with installations, exhibitions, and events in various neighborhoods.
The events also include the two biennials, the International Bathroom Exhibition and EuroCucina.
Salone del Mobile vs. Design Miami
While both Salone del Mobile (including Fuorisalone) and Design Miami play well-established roles in the design world, they serve slightly different purposes. The Milan furniture fair covers a broad spectrum of designs, from commercial innovations to experimental works, engaging a wider audience.
In contrast, Design Miami is more niche, emphasizing collectible and highly conceptual design pieces, often with a focus on the intersection of art and design. Design Miami’s curated boutique exhibitions are associated closely with the Art Basel fairs, thus attracting a mix of both art and design enthusiasts.
Emerging Trends and Innovations in Salone de Mobile
This year’s theme, “Where experience evolves,” was explored through a variety of mediums and materials, searching for frontiers far beyond utility in modern chef-d’oeuvre designs.
Vigorous Focus on Sustainability
Expectedly, sustainable design and technological integration stood out among the key tendencies. Exhibitors like Nicoletti Home showcased their latest lines of handmade, environmentally friendly furniture. Several others, including Fama, introduced new eco-friendly fabrics for modular and classic sofas.
Arper has updated Catifa 53, one of its bestsellers. It’s now carbon-negative, mainly due to PaperShell, a new material that transforms into biochar at the end of its lifecycle. This biochar then works further: enriches soil fertility and retains CO2, enhancing the product’s environmental credentials. Catifa 53 is also the brand’s first product to achieve environmental certification.
Magis collaborated with Thomas Heatherwick’s studio on “In-side,” a fresh approach to solving the conundrums of post-consumerism. What they achieved is a series of rotationally molded seats made from a mix of bio-plastics and recycled polymers.
Meanwhile, Kaldewei, a German manufacturer known for its durable bath designs, presented products made from materials such as 100% recyclable steel enamel.
Ginger and Jagger were among the brands already represented in the USA. Blending luxury with responsibility, their collection utilizes natural stone and wood harvested under sustainable practices.
Technological Enhancements in Milan Furniture Fair
Many designer brands have embraced a tech-forward approach. At the main show, Natuzzi captivated the visitors with the “Snail” & “Mindfull” sofas, designed to improve well-being through technology. It boasts an electrically adjustable backrest and mechanisms that adjust seating positions, offering a remarkable blend of comfort and innovation.
At the Solgami meets Seagram installation in Zona Tortona, architect and designer Ben Berwick showcased his Solgami Ambient Light System. This site-specific, modular window treatment optimizes and directs natural light while reducing thermal dynamics in buildings. It was presented in a full-scale replica of Mies Van der Rohe’s Seagram Building, which made it even more attractive.
Following the trends, Kohler introduced a smart faucet system, a clever blend of water-saving technology and user personalization features. Equipped with lighting that syncs with circadian rhythms, their showers and saunas promote both environmental sustainability and advanced consumer experience.
Kitchens & Bathrooms in the Spotlight
The 24th edition of EuroCucina explored the kitchen’s evolving role through the lenses of socializing, sustainability, and smart technology/artificial intelligence. Its new position of a home’s “hyper hub” that integrates various living aspects was key in promoting flexible designs that can be combined with adjoined spaces.
Meanwhile, the International Bathroom Exhibition emphasized natural aesthetics, responsible innovations, and materials aimed at enhancing well-being. In focus were the trends that transform utility into regenerative environments, allowing bathtubs and other bathroom elements to seamlessly merge into open-plan bedrooms and beyond. A standout feature was the “Under the Surface” exhibition by Accurat, Design Group Italia, and Emiliano Ponzi. Highly conceptualized with a symbolic submerged island, it became a talk of the event.
Business & Home Office Design Trends in Salone del Mobile
The Milan furniture fair’s exhibition of office furniture is yet another proof of office spaces evolving into more human-centric environments. The shift is evident in the selection of flexible, informal furnishings and color palettes designed to foster an optimistic atmosphere.
Examples include Fantoni’s “Panorama” wall system, which can be reconfigured for different needs. Dieffebi introduced the “Line Bookcase,” a room divider and a storage solution in one, featuring also optional acoustic panels.
The “Typo” chair by Mara is a new face of retro with its distinctive steel folds supporting a wooden backrest. Infiniti’s “Round&Roll” stool is a playful piece with casters and a swivel seat for enhanced mobility, while “Clizia” by Quadrifoglio Group blends office and living room aesthetics.
Interiors by David Lynch + Salone del Mobile
Celebrated filmmaker David Lynch debuted an immersive installation titled “Interiors by David Lynch. A Thinking Room.” This is not quite a surprise, knowing how some interiors from his movies maintain a cult status; also, Lynch himself is a hobby carpenter turned furniture designer. His foray into the Milan furniture fair was sparked by a conversation with curator Antonio Monda, a film professor and former artistic director of the Rome Film Festival, who once saw his work.
The installation features two “Thinking Rooms,” each centered around a large armchair encased in velvet curtains—a setup emblematically aligned with the author’s artistic identity. Screens displaying abstract videos encircle the rooms, creating a reflective escape from the fair’s hustle.
Creative Colaboratons
Collaborations are always a strong point of the Salone del Mobile, promoting partnerships among top Italian and international design firms. Minotti, for instance, introduced new partnerships with designers Hannes Peer and Giampiero Tagliaferri. With Peer, they launched a modular seating and lava stone table system, while Tagliaferri revisited the style of the sixties and seventies.
Kartell collaborated with Liberty London, introducing new floral prints and a jewel table designed by Fabio Novembre. The brand’s other collaboration, AI Collection, can be described in two powerful keywords: Philippe Starck, and artificial intelligence.
Japanese influences navigated Nao Tamura’s work for Porro. Her console table and bench, made of aluminum sheet, echo the minimum-waste craftsmanship of kimono tailoring. Porro also partnered with Piero Lissoni, who designed a table inspired by azuki beans, blending minimalism and decorative art.
Design Talks
Drafting Futures: Conversations about Next Perspectives, sessions curated by Annalisa Rosso, hosted prominent figures like Francis Kéré, John Pawson, and Jeanne Gang. Covering a vast range of topics, the panels explored design and architecture’s impact on shaping the future, along with the AI’s reversed impact on both worlds.
Meanwhile, Design Kiosk was introduced to the streets as a cultural hub providing a curated selection of publications and exclusive products.
How to Adapt Salone Del Mobile 2024 Trends for Home Interiors
While innovative, the designs presented at Salone Del Mobile 2024 are intended for practical use. Modular furniture from STI Group, for instance, is versatile enough to adapt to various room layouts and usage needs. In terms of comfort and contemporary design, AL2 also offers sleek, functional pieces easy to incorporate into different styles.
For outdoor areas, choose pieces from DEESAVAT or Yaaz that combine luxury with affordability.
If you’re looking for an artistic touch that also serves practical purposes, consider high-end glass and lighting from Reflex. These pieces can illuminate and enhance the overall ambiance of your home, doubling as captivating art installations. Those could make a nice fit with imaginatively patterned accent elements from Fama, a Spanish brand of furniture and decor.
Finally, to give your environment an organic feel, top up the arrangments with pieces from RA Luxury, such as furniture made from wood stumps.
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