Supersalone: Salone del Mobile 2021
“An event led by innovation and uniqueness” – this year’s Salone del Mobile theme dubbed “Supersalone.” Curated by Boeri together with internationally acclaimed architects and design professionals; Andrea Caputo, Lukas Wegwerth, Giorgio Dona, Maria Cristina Didero, Anniina Koivu, Marco Ferrari, and Elisa Pasqual.
The fair launched in Milan in 1961 and served as a vehicle to promote Italian exports of furnishing and accessories until it became the global benchmark event for the furnishing and design sector today. The past Salone del Mobile fairs have recorded over 370,000 professionals attend, 70% of them from 188 other countries, 5,000 journalists from local and international borders, and around 27,500 members of the general public.
Salone del Mobile is an unmissable sector-wide event. Not to mention the events that take place alongside it, “Salone is not just synonymous with business, but also with culture.”
This year, Supersalone will take place in Milan from 5th September to 10th September. It will be presented as a thematical and scenographic display where companies will be able to show their work from the past 18 months.
With special attention to sustainability and recycling of the structure, the fair stages as a ‘library of design’ showcasing wall systems that are flexible and can be recycled to create a forest of 200 trees along the forefront of the ground, that will later be planted across Milan.
Supersalone 2021 may be the 59th edition but it is the 1st edition to be held under the elected new president, Maria Porro.
“I grew up with the Salone del Mobile. I am honored to take on this role at such a vital and transformative time. I and the entire board of directors will be working to ensure that, as a unique and indispensable design showcase, the Salone rises to meet future challenges regarding sustainability, digitalization, research, innovation, creativity, and inclusiveness, as ever maintaining the highest quality.”
New Initiatives
In an attempt to make up for lost time, Supersalone is launching new exhibitions – one of which is called ‘The Lost Graduation’ led by Anniina Koivu. It will feature work from design students who graduated between 2020 and 2021. The exhibition will showcase projects from 170 students from 48 design schools around the world exploring themes such as mobility, medical, and sports-based design.
Koivu says that the display “will provide a unique occasion to reassess just what the most pressing design topics are, and rethink where design should be heading. What better way to start than by listening to the questions being asked by the new generation of designers, as well as the answers they are proposing?”
A second exhibition called ‘The Makers Show’ will be more focused on the future of design. Independent workshops, studios, laboratories, and start-ups that merge designs and experimentation, new production techniques, and material research will be given the chance to display their projects. The event is curated by Nina Bassoli and is aimed to “build a collective picture of the start of the art of independent design and the direction it’s taking.”
Through the series of aligned events, lectures, and exhibitions, Supersalone explores the circular economy, education, and environmental impact of design.