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“supersalone” Celebrates 18 Months of Design Gratification at Rho Fiera Milano

The following post is brought to you by “supersalone”. Our partners are hand-picked by the Design Milk team because they represent the best in design.

08.10.21 | By
“supersalone” Celebrates 18 Months of Design Gratification at Rho Fiera Milano

We’re excited to share a special new element of this year’s Salone del Mobile.Milano: “supersalone”. Slated for September 5th to 10th at Rho, Fiera Milano, the unique event will give the visiting public a chance to enjoy the design experience safely and view the latest innovations from companies that love to experiment as well as the work of recently graduated international design students. “A blast of creative oxygen after the long winter of the pandemic,” as curator Stefano Boeri puts it.

“supersalone” promises to reaffirm the centrality of Salone del Mobile.Milano on the international design, cultural and innovation scenes, with Triennale Milano acting as the hub of the “supersalone city”. Boeri, along with with international collaborators Andrea Caputo, Maria Cristina Didero, Anniina Koivu, Lukas Wegwerth and Marco Ferrari and Elisa Pasqual of Studio Folder, together with Giorgio Donà, co-founder and director of Stefano Boeri Interiors, worked on the exhibition and its fresh format. Fluid and dynamic, the set-up will highlight new products and creations that companies have rolled out over the past 18 months, with the event’s design allowing visitors to freely move about inside a large design library.

The displays themselves will be separated into themed areas: a green entrance full of trees, talks with leading design figures, lounges for meetings and relaxation, an area for design school students, a display of chairs awarded with the Compasso d’Oro curated by the ADI and food courts in partnership with Identità Golose. All display materials and components were designed to be taken apart and reused to keep circularity and sustainability top of mind during the show.

four images of modern chairs

Clockwise from top left: Tonietta, Enzo Mari, Zanotta, chair, 1987, 14th edition, Compasso d’Oro Award \ K 1340, Marco Zanuso with Richard Sapper, Kartell, children’s chair, 1964, 8th edition, Compasso d’Oro Award \ 683, Carlo De Carli, Figli di Amedeo Cassina, chair, 1954, 1st edition, Compasso d’Oro Award \ Luisa, Franco Albini, Figli di Carlo Poggi, armchair, 1955, 2nd edition, Compasso d’Oro Award

Take Your Seat / Solitude and Conviviality of the Chair

The concept behind Take Your Seat / Solitude and Conviviality of the Chair, curated by Nina Bassoli, is that no object epitomizes the value of design better than a chair. From 1954 to today, 30 Compasso d’Oro award-winning chairs and over eighty honorable mentions exhibit how there’s simply nothing more iconic. The audiovisual installation gives visitors the chance to wander through an immersive space with scenic lighting, a journey of images beginning in the 1950s set against the backdrop of social, economic and cultural changes through today. The chair shares the ways humans continue, again and again, to isolate or gather together.

split image of three people standing around a table and a closeup of a person using a laptop on part of the table

Emineo extendable table by Charlotte Krzentowski, ECAL Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne \\\ Photo: Olivia Dall’Omo

two hands pressing woodblocks onto fabric

Embossing wood by Hemmo Honkonen, Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture \\\ Photo: Emilia Pennanen

The Lost Graduation Show

Design school students who graduated in 2020 and 2021 have missed out on some big opportunities. The Lost Graduation Show is dedicated to them, with nearly 300 design schools in 59 countries invited to apply to be part of the project curated by Anniina Koivu. It will include furniture design, the worlds of mobility, inclusive, medical and sports design, materials research and design sustainability. The ultimate goal of The Lost Graduation Show is to share the stage with these graduates, giving them the opportunity to show their projects to the public. Alongside the physical exhibition, all works will be uploaded to a digital platform – @thelostgraduationshow – to reach a wider audience and give viewers the ability to contact the creatives directly. A jury of international experts will assess the projects and award the best in each category. Through the event, “supersalone” hopes to support the schools and promote a new generation of designers at a time of huge transition for the profession.

three images of detailed, colorful fabric

Kaarigari tapestry by Rashmi Bidasaria, RCA Royal College of Art \\\ Photo: Rashmi Bidasaria

The Makers Show

Independent makers who shape materials in original ways will also have a place at “supersalone” in The Makers Show. A selection of work by international designer-makers will showcase one project each to create a collective picture of independent design and the direction it’s moving in. The Makers Show will include workshops, studios, laboratories and startups that bring together design and experimentation, new production techniques and materials research.

event space with red carpet, seating, and live trees

Forestrami

Forestami

The Forestami trees are undoubtedly bound to be a highlight of “supersalone”. The project will set up a “forest” of around 100 trees – Linden, Ash, Oak and Plum Blossom – that visitors will walk through to reach the East Gate entrance. An additional 100 trees will be added throughout exhibition spaces and lounge areas. Each tree will feature a QR code directing visitors to Forestami.org, where a donation or contribution to the project can be made. After “supersalone” is over, all of the trees will be replanted in the city park ‘Parco Nord Milano’.

Marco Sabetta, General Manager of Salone del Mobile.Milano, remarked: “As we firmly believe that shifting our cities and homes from gray to green is not only possible but necessary in order to improve everyone’s quality of life, well-being and health, we are really pleased with the project that Forestami will implement for “supersalone”. This way, with a concrete gesture that will have a positive impact on the future, we wish to help promote a virtuous model for the city of Milan.”

Food courts, in partnership with Identità Golose, will share the talents of Italian chefs Massimo Bottura, Cristina Bowerman, Matias Perdomo, Renato Bosco and Paolo Brunello and be brimming over with delicious delicacies

Lastly, “supersalone” will feature a special program of open talks that include meetings, lectures and interviews with some of the biggest names in contemporary design. Each day of the fair will include three talks plus one film.

To learn more about “supersalone”, visit salonemilano.it/en/manifestazioni/supersalone.

Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she's likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.