Milan Design Week, the world’s largest annual design event, begins on Monday 17 April 2023, returning to its usual calendar month (after taking place in June 2022 and September 2021 due to the pandemic). The centrepiece as ever is Salone del Mobile, the legendary design fair – now in its 61st edition – which showcases nearly every kind of design. Founded in 1961 as a trade show with a focus on Italian design, Salone has grown from displaying the works of 328 practitioners to accommodating over 3000 international exhibitors, with visitor numbers now routinely expected to be well over a quarter of a million. It opens its doors on 18 April.
‘There is always something unique and special to find,’ Marco Romanelli observed of the Salone in Pulp 13. ‘Hidden among hundreds of thousands of products, there is sure to be a sparkling novelty that will launch a new genre – and this will change the way we sit, how we comb our hair, look into a mirror, get into bed, or cook our meals.’
The list of past exhibitors and their products is long – from Ettore Sottsass’s Bastonio chest of drawers (1963) to Gae Aulenti’s glass table (1980), not to mention the presence of designers such as Philippe Starck, Gae Aulenti, Jasper Morrison, Konstantin Grcic and Patricia Urquiola, Younger designers have benefitted from exposure within the SaloneSatellite exhibition space.
This year, Milan Design Week’s partners DAAily platforms (Designboom, Architonic, ArchDaily) – who once again host the DAAily Bar at the Piazza Cavour’s Swiss Corner – have produced two essential guides to the best exhibitors and products on show and the wider events of the Design Week. The guides, both printed on Fedrigoni’s Arena, are available from the DAAily booth in the entrance of hall 07 + 05 at the Fiera Milano exhibition centre, at four hotspots around the city, and digitally via the links below:
A host of installations will take place across the city. Frank Lloyd Wright’s series of Taliesin light fixtures (designed in 1933) will be the subject of an installation by Japanese lighting manufacturer Yamagiwa, housed in a space designed by Shigeru Ban.
Fedrigoni has a stand where visitors can pick up copies of Pulp. Email paperexpert@fedrigoni.com to book your visit to Fedrigoni Milan Studio (c/o Fabriano Boutique, Via Ponte Vetero 17, Milano) on 19 and 20 April 2023.
The ‘beating heart of Europe’s design scene’ (as Alyn Griffiths described it in Pulp 10) is back.
Milan Design Week 17-23 April