supersalone is the name for the Special 2021 Salone del Mobile.Milano event, slated for 5th to 10th September at Rho, Fiera Milano and all around the city: it will be a unique occasion, a one-off event, powerfully and immediately attractive and communicative; it will be open every day, not just to professionals but also to the general public; it will not be a purely commercial event, but will foster original cross-pollinations while fully respecting the health regulations and protocols imposed nationally to combat the spread of Coronavirus.
The architect Stefano Boeri and an international team of collaborators – Andrea Caputo, Maria Cristina Didero, Anniina Koivu, Lukas Wegwerth and Marco Ferrari and Elisa Pasqual of Studio Folder – will work with Giorgio Donà, co-founder and director of Stefano Boeri Interiors, to come up with innovative itineraries that will valorise projects and products in setting built on proximity, reflection and sharing.
The proposed format will be that of a large design library, which will celebrate the renewed attention and care devoted to contemporary living spaces, designed to valorise and harmonise the new products and creations brought out by the companies over the last 18 months with their traditional products which, thanks to the debut of the Salone del Mobile.Milano digital platform, will be available to purchase at the culmination of a packed and engaging customer journey (part of the profits will go to a charitable cause).
The layout will consist of long parallel sets, designed for the specific goods categories, and will allow the companies to narrate their own identities and their own products on vertical walls and, in some cases, on horizontal surfaces, both of which will be modular.
With circularity and sustainability uppermost, all the display materials and components have been designed to be dismantled and reused; furthermore, thanks to the Forestami project, a green welcome area with 200 trees, will be set up at the East Gate of the fairgrounds and the trees will subsequently be relocated to Milan’s metropolitan area after the six-day event.
The display in the fairgrounds will be cross-pollinated and broken up by themed areas and itineraries: arenas for talks on knowledge sharing and deepening, dedicated lounges for commercial and business company meetings, areas reserved for young students at design schools and for a display of chairs awarded with the Compasso d’Oro curated by the ADI, food courts conceived and set up in partnership with Identità Golose – The International Chef Congress, and socialising and relaxation areas.
A special programme of meetings with some of the leading figures on the contemporary scene and thinkers of tomorrow will alternate with large live music events, in collaboration with the top, most representative sectoral experts.
Finally, Triennale Milano will be the hub of the “supersalone” city, with a range of cultural offerings including a series of totally original projects on top of the institution’s exhibitions.
“The supersalone is the result of the generosity and the creativity of the companies and design professionals at an extremely delicate point in the recovery and relaunch of the economy and culture. For the first time, the Salone del Mobile.Milano will be open throughout to the great consumer public, allowing them a chance to select and purchase the very best international design products” said the architect Stefano Boeri.
In this context, the combination of digital and physical presence will make for a highly engaging experience: the new Salone del Mobile.Milano platform, which will launch on 30th June, has been designed to promote the design on exhibit with original content and medium-specific language, and to put the user at the centre of the event before, during and after their visit; the exhibition spaces and themed itineraries will dialogue with the platform in a wholly original manner, and the products visualised and reserved for later purchase.
Claudio Feltrin, President of FederlegnoArredo, had this to say: “Taking on the challenge of organising a special event – a ‘supersalone’ – in such a difficult and complicated year is a tangible sign of the extent to which our entrepreneurs and the Federation have poured their hearts into overcoming the obstacles in order to bring the design community, the national and international buyers, the media and the general public back to the Rho fairgrounds, allowing them to take part in a globally unprecedented event that only the city of Milan is capable of hosting. An extraordinarily different event, suited to a unique period in history in which the leaders find the strongest stimuli to demonstrate their own leadership. Giving up would have been easy, but that’s not part of our companies’ DNA. The design companies are ready to return to the international scene stronger than ever, and the September event will be the best possible way of announcing to the world that our sector is firmly in place and keen to embrace new challenges.”
In conclusion, supersalone is a unique project in line with the exceptional times in which we live, geared not just to sectoral professionals and the international design community, but also to the general public: an authentic catalyst for activities, thoughts and feelings that will allow the entire sector and the supply chain as a whole to get off to an optimistic new start in September.