Milano Design Week

Salone del Mobile and Fuorisalone 2024


Everything we saw at Salone 2021

A roundup of images of the best installations of this particular September edition of the most anticipated event in Milan.

After a two-year shutdown, the September Salone was a memorable event. We were expecting a somewhat underwhelming edition, on a much reduced scale, but we found ourselves in front of a very lively Milan, which, during the lockdowns, evidently continued to work tirelessly behind the scenes. The Salone 2021 was easy to visit and enjoyable: we wanted to meet each other again and share impressions, and the reduced scale of the event made it possible. 

We attended a very human event, perhaps because in recent years it had abundantly exceeded its limits. The great immersive installations in the city have certainly missed, but not completely, take for example those of the queens of the fuorisalone, the fashion houses such as Hermès or Bulgari.

Certainly spectacularity was not among the priorities of those who participated, but rather the substance, supported by more time to elaborate and refine the projects, on a practical and theoretical level. Should it always be like this? A biennial event? In April there will be another Salone, the more "official" one that will also celebrate the 60th anniversary of the event. Perhaps it could make sense to think of two smaller editions per year, along the lines of Maison Objet? Probably, from a strategic point of view, concentrating everything in a single date is the safest way to remain compact and strong against the competition, as suggested by Philippe Starck. But let's remember that this edition has almost completely excluded the general public.

Salone and fuorisalone opened on Sunday 5th with access on the first day mainly reserved for the press and with ungenerous opening hours (with most of events closing doors at 6 or 7 pm) and ended on Friday 10th, with few exceptions. Moreover, the citizens who are usually active and enthusiastic participants in the Salone, this time were barely aware of the event: in the city the only banner that betrayed it was a cryptic "Milano is Design is Milano" poster. And think that this was supposed to be a "consumer" edition where you could buy the products on display, even at the fair.

A choice probably dictated by the control of flows to limit assemblies and Covid contagions, so we do not exclude that it can be repeated in the same way next year. Among the novelties of 2021 deserve a big thank you the new bike lanes made by the City of Milan during the quarantine. We expect many more, to complete the existing ones because it is still too dangerous to rely on paths that suddently throw you on the busiest routes, where life is threatened. When it's not raining, the bicycle is the best way to visit the fuorisalone, you can get to the appointments quickly, you can observe the city in turmoil, you can come across unexpected events along the way and you can even reach Rho Fiera. We will also wait for bike racks, that are really scarce. Meanwhile we give a big thank you to everone: designers, artists, curators, photographers, makers, journalists, students, thinkers, organizers, Tenoha, and restaurants.  

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