An Ethical Approach to Design: The Salone del Mobile is Back

The 60th edition of the Salone del Mobile, at Fiera Milano Rho from June 7 to 12,  will be elebrating this important milestone through the key values of quality, innovation, beauty and, now more than ever, sustainability.  SCALE will bring to you the best of the Milan Design Week right from Milan, but here are a few indicators of where the excitement lies.

After two rough years due to the pandemic, the Salone mindful of its lengthy history, aims for an ambition show to demonstrate that it is both possible and crucial to start holding great international events live again, embedding sustainability and environmental awareness into furniture production. 2022 looks like an edition packed with people and projects: almost 200,000 m2 of net exhibition space and around 2,100 exhibitors – including 600 SaloneSatellite designers – with foreign companies making up 25% of the total (excluding SaloneSatellite).

Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile Milano says, “The Salone del Mobile has always been a catalyst for creativity, positivity and energy. We have always been a place of dialogue and construction, in Milan and at the Shanghai and Moscow editions. Now, we are as shocked as everyone else by the war in Ukraine and believe even more in the importance of being a crossroads of cultures and styles open to the world. This is why we have made sure that the work of the exhibiting exhibitors takes centre stage again. The event acts as a “blank canvas” for all its protagonists – companies, brands and designers – allowing them to project their own identities, promote their own content and tell their own stories. A point of reference for the entire design community. We cannot stand still, in fact we have a duty to move even faster in the direction of design, production and distribution solutions that are as sustainable as possible – what we need today is an ethical approach to design.”

Things to Lookout for:

DESIGN WITH NATURE

WHERE:  S.Project’s Pavilion 15

WHAT: The relationship between nature and the way we live will be explore with a major exhibition/installation that will offer triggers for reflection on the future of design practice. This is a project developed with the architect Mario Cucinella, which explores the themes of circular economy and reuse, starting with the idea that cities could be possible “reserves” of the future, where most of the raw materials used in construction could be sourced. Seen from this perspective, urban areas could become genuine, new opportunities to cut environmental impact.

The installation channels three main themes: ecological transition, the home as the prime urban element and the city as a mine, ranging over a large area that turns into both a landscape and, simultaneously, a refuge for discussion, sharing, reading, reflecting and working.

Mario Cucinella Architects: “A large space mindful of design and the environment, dedicated to the new sociality.”

After the fair, the structures will be repurposed throughout Milan, including in a small library for a school, a classroom, a chair for a public space, a table for a laboratory and more.

Fuorisalone 2022

Where: Around the City

WHAT: Fuorisalone 2022 will showcase the latest contemporary design throughout the city’s central neighbourhoods. This is the most exciting time to be in Milan: historical palazzos open their eclectic interiors to the work of emerging design talent, showrooms showcase the latest launches and everywhere you turn, there is a promise of finding new talent and flamboyant designs.

Brera Design

Possibly the most picturesque neighbourhood of Milan, Brera’s cobbled streets play host to an array of showrooms, galleries and exhibition spaces. Week staged from June 6th to June 12th collects the challenges of contemporaneity and promotes the theme “Between Space and Time” proposed by Fuorisalone.it, declining it in “Designing the Present, Choosing the future”.

The 2022 edition of the event, including exhibitions, installations, new products revealed in the streets and showrooms of the city, arises from these needs.

Here are few special projects to look out for:

Porsche – “The Art of Dreams”

Where: Porsche,  Palazzo Clerici, Via Clerici, 5, Milan

Porsche goes on display for the first time at Milan Design Week with an immersive installation that is part of its new art initiative “The Art of Dreams.” Through the work of floral artist Ruby Barber, Porsche aims to explore the relationship between nature and technology with an immersive, dreamlike installation at Palazzo Clerici.

Ruby Barber has created an uplifting sculptural artwork that combines the fragility of flowers with a technological perspective in the 21st century. Fascinating even in its resting state, the installation comes to life through choreographed performances. An intense creative process saw Barber collaborate with flight engineers and numerous drone pilots in the creation of an “innovative” art experience.

Baglioni Hotels & Resorts – “IN-BETWEEN. Between Art and Design”

Where: Casa Baglioni, Via dei Giardini, 21, Milan

Casa Baglioni, the new Milanese hotel of the Baglioni Collection that will be opened in the Brera district by the end of the year, a project signed by the architecture firm Spagnulo & Partners, opens the doors of its building site during the days of the Milan Design Week, transforming itself into the exclusive stage of the art exhibition “IN-BETWEEN. Between Art and Design.”

The exhibition, curated by Spagnulo & Partners, describes the delicate relationship between art and design, which is also the conceptual matrix of the project for the new hotel Casa Baglioni. On display are works by three great international artists, Agostino Bonalumi, Anne Imohof and Giulio Paolini, from the Stefano Cecchi Trust Collection – Fondo per l’Arte, a collection created by the entrepreneur Stefano Cecchi with the curatorship of Iole Pellion di Persan.

Future of Fashion: An innovation conversation with Stella McCartney

Where: Stella McCartney, ℅ Caselli di Porta Nuova, Piazzale Principessa Clotilde, 11/12, Milano

“Future of Fashion: An innovation conversation with Stella McCartney” is the second edition of a travelling and evolving installation by British conscious luxury pioneer Stella McCartney – leveraging her brand’s current achievements to inspire future actions.

The Future of Fashion invites the world to discover the limitless possibilities of material innovation for creating a more nature-positive market – kinder to Mother Earth and better for business. Attendees can explore curated items crafted from pioneering fibres, (re)using everything from mushrooms to clothing waste. Key areas of focus will include vegan, mycelium, regenerated and plant-based innovations from Stella McCartney’s two decades of leadership in this space.

Cross-industry partnership will also be introduced at the event, including relevant and beautiful collaborations with iconic Italian architect and designer Mario Bellini as well as heritage British wallpaper house Cole & Son. Additional highlights include an experimental sounds room featuring music created from mushrooms, a screening room for documentary ‘Fantastic Fungi’ and an exclusive pop-up.

Alcova

Where: VIA SIMONE SAINT BON 1, MILANO

Curators Joseph Grima and Valentina Ciuffi launched ‘Alcova’ in 2018. Every year since, the project has taken over a dilapidated building somewhere in Milan, and with very little intervention the pair, staged an exhibition that takes people out of their comfort zone. The 2022 edition of Alcova is going to take place just west of Milan’s centre (Via Simone Saint Bon), in a cluster of buildings immersed in an urban park, including a nunnery and an industrial laundry. The raw spaces that serve as backdrops to the exhibitions allow visitors to discover design with a novel approach; the exhibitions feature an array of independent talent, not to be missed.

FORITE:

Another interesting collaboration based on a volume of existing material research by Studio Plastique, Common Sands – Forite evolved as a collaborative research project between Studio Plastique and Snøhetta, with the aim of exploring the potential applications of recycled E-waste glass. Through several prototypes and variations, a process for recycling E-waste glass components was developed, leading to the development of an application integrating and celebrating its variable material quality: glass tiles.

Italian ceramic tile manufacturer Fornace Brioni later joined the team, bringing their experience, industrial know-how, production facilities and potential for scalability to the project.

All Images Courtesy Salone del Mobile.Milano