Stone-Ideas.com 
Along long walls, exhibitors were able to rent a few square meters to set up or hang up their products / Sustainability was the overall topic
The organizers of the Salone del Mobile in Milan had come up with probably the most unusual of the many concepts for trade fairs held as a substitute in pandemic times for the annual live event: instead of the normal show for trade visitors, this time there were sales to private individuals, and instead of the usual booths, which often took up the floor space of apartment buildings, long walls had been drawn through the halls. Along which exhibitors could rent a few meters in length. This gave them a narrow area on the floor to set up their furniture and another area on the walls to hang products.
The design idea came from architect Stefano Boeri, who became famous for his high-rise “Bosco Verticale“ (Vertical Forest) with trees on the balconies not far from Milan’s Porta Garibaldi station. The aim of his concept was also to avoid the usual flood of materials because the movable walls used were made of 100% waste wood and can be reused.
In this respect, Boeri made clear the central theme that was addressed in all the objects: Sustainability.
For example, there was a forest of 100 trees at the east entrance to the exhibition center and numerous trees scattered throughout the show. It was assured that they would later be planted in the city.
However, the small format did not go down well with many of the usual exhibitors, who preferred to present themselves outside the fair in the city. Thus, instead of the usual 24 halls, only 4 were occupied. Only 425 manufacturers and 39 independent creatives rented booths on the exhibition grounds. An entire hall was filled by 170 student projects from 48 design schools of 22 countries.
Despite this, the term “Supersalone“ was invented as a title for this fair, although the organizers were careful to make sure that it was understood as a stand-alone event and not an option of the future Salone del Mobile.
For next year, the fair should return to the normal stand concept and the April date (April 05 – 10, 2022).
We show some of the design novelties of companies that normally exhibit at the Salone del Mobile.
Photos: Salone del Mobile / Companies
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(08.10.2021, USA: 10.08.2021)