This year, the programme is particularly full, with events being held all over Milan from March to May

The City of the Saloni

Just as they do every year, the acclaimed international protagonists of the home furnishing sector, the Saloni, will be making a welcome return to the Rho exhibition centre – from 14th to 19 th April – along with the biennial exhibitions devoted to the Kitchen and the Bathroom. And, as always, the Saloni will be fleshing out the purely commercial offering with cultural events. This year, the programme is particularly full, with events being held all over Milan from March to May.

This year too, the Saloni will be holding their historic Spring appointment dedicated to all who have a professional interest in furnishing. “The Event is Back”, as the publicity campaign proclaims, bolstered by the success of the previous edition – in 2009 – which was attended by a record number of 313,385 visitors, operators, general public and press among them.

There will also be an exceptional number of collateral events dedicated to Milan running alongside the trade shows: no fewer than four exhibitions focusing on the manufacture of furnishings and furnishing accessories, on kitchens, on bathrooms, plus the project being hosted by eight key Milanese institutions: from the historic Villa Reale and the Pinacoteca di Brera to the nineteenth century Poldi Pezzoli and Bagatti Valsecchi Historic House Museums, the Planetarium designed by Piero Portaluppi and donated to the city by Ulrico Hoepli in 1929, the Boschi Di Stefano house in Via Jan, and Villa Necchi Campiglio, a 30s urban jewel, both also designed by Portaluppi, to the contemporary Triennale Bovisa.

The trade shows on one hand and the collateral events on the other go to make up what amounts to a real “settlement”, a “concentration” of culture and project, a city no less: “The City of the Saloni”. 

Next April – from 14th to 19th – 2,500 exhibitors will set up camp on 211,500 square metres at the Milan Fairgrounds, Rho, where the 49th edition of Salone Internazionale del Mobile is to be held, along with Eurocucina and its collateral event FTK, the International Bathroom Furniture Exhibition, the International Furnishing Accessories Exhibition and SaloneSatellite.

This year the biennial Kitchen Furniture Exhibition along with FTK (Technology for the Kitchen) – the event dedicated to technological innovation in built-in electrical appliances and cooker hoods – will occupy four Pavilions, Nos. 9, 11, 13 and 15, while two other Pavilions, Nos. 22 and 24, will be given over entirely to the Bathroom Furniture Exhibition.

The decision to pack the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, which will be showing the Modern section in its entirety, into one of the two two-storey buildings (Pavilions 14-16 and 18-20) directly adjacent to the other sectoral Pavilions, thus creating a single throughway, was made on functional grounds.

Every single event at the Saloni is distinguished by a wide range of top quality goods: from the Salone Internazionale del Mobile and the International Furnishing Accessories Exhibition which showcase every sort and kind of furnishing in every possible style to Eurocucina, the International Kitchen Furniture Exhibition, comprising a complete overview of the sector, and its collateral exhibition FTK, to the International Bathroom Furniture Exhibition, showcase par excellence for bathroom furnishing.

SaloneSatellite – in Pavilions 22 and 24 – is back again this year – an event geared to fostering contact between young designers and exhibiting companies. In addition to their own prototypes, the participants are asked to present one or more projects focused on the products showcased at the Kitchen and Bathroom biennial exhibitions.

There will be a competition for the 3 best products in the 2 sections involved. This year there will also be a montage conceived by 5 young architects/designers, previous participants in SaloneSatellite, again under the supervision of Ricardo Bello Dias.

The Saloni 2010 will also include a forum event on the subject of The Office, in which visitors to the exhibition will be involved. This event will be held at the Exhibition Centre and is a promotional vehicle for the 2011 edition of SaloneUfficio, the International Office Furniture Exhibition, intended to spark off reflections, research projects and ideas for original ways of interpreting the workspace.

In the city itself, however the Saloni will be holding the following events:

• “Unexpected Guests – Homes of Yesteryear, Design of Today”

11th March – 2nd May

Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Museo Bagatti Valsecchi, Casa Boschi Di Stefano, Villa Necchi Campiglio

Curated by Beppe Finessi and Italo Lupi, the aim of the exhibition organised by The Milan Historic House Museums Network and Cosmit is to bring contemporary design into Milan’s four “Historic House Museums” – and set up a dialogue between the signs of our times and those of bygone eras, exploring the prospects for melding the projects of today with those of yesteryear with surprising results, naturally.

• “Everyone to the table!”

14th April – 9th May

Villa Reale, Via Palestro

Curated by Franco Laera, this is a look at the world of “dining”, taken apart and celebrated in its various stages through its own places and instruments, such as for example: food preparation/the kitchen; table preparation/the settings and table decorations; the home/everyday meals; special occasions/banquets; restaurants/convivial suppers and so on.

• “A Celestial Bathroom”

14th April – 19th April

Ulrico Hoepli Planetarium, Giardini Pubblici

An invitation to rediscover the bathroom as a place of wellbeing and harmony, seen through the beauty of the female form and the celestial vault. Curated by Francesca Molteni.

• “The Hand of the Designer”

10 th April – 9 th May

Villa Necchi Campiglio and Triennale Bovisa

Following the successful format of the previous edition, held last year, this initiative – supported by Cosmit and Fondazione Cosmit Eventi – is dedicated to the autograph drawings and sketches that have been donated to the FAI – Fondo Ambiente Italiano by designers from all over the world.

The 450 drawings on exhibit will form the basis for a fundraising auction and direct sales for the restoration and maintenance of the Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milan and the launch of the Olivetti shop in Venice, designed by Carlo Scarpa in 1957/8.

The City of the Saloni, therefore: its quality and variety make it an absolutely unmissable place!

Milan, 11th February 2010