The 54th edition of I Saloni will open its doors from Tuesday 14th to Sunday 19th April, at the Rho Milan Fairgrounds. Quality and innovation, along with major collateral events and a comprehensive, wide range of goods are the ingredients that make I Saloni an unmissable event.
With over 2000 exhibitors, more than 200,000m² of exhibition space and thousands of products making their market debut, I Saloni is the acknowledged sectoral international benchmark event year after year, attracting more than 300,000 visitors from over 160 countries. I Saloni is open each day from 9.30am to 6.30pm, and also open to the general public on the Saturday and Sunday.
I Saloni, which is split into three style categories – Classic, Modern and Design, the International Furnishing Accessories Exhibition and SaloneSatellite, will be flanked by the biennial Euroluce/International Lighting Exhibition in Pavilions 9-11 and 13-15 and Workplace3.0/SaloneUfficio, dedicated to the workspace, in Pavilions 22-24.
Euroluce, the exhibition devoted to excellence in the lighting world, will show the latest in outdoor, indoor, industrial, event/show, special use and hospital lighting solutions, lighting systems, light sources and illumination technology software and consulting. To mark the 2015 International Year of Light proclaimed by UNESCO, architect Attilio Stocchi has created ‘FAVILLA. To every light a voice’ for the city of Milan – an installation/event telling the story of and exploring the essence of light.
Workplace3.0 is an exhibition with an innovative concept, devoted to design and technology for planning the workspace in the round. Workplace3.0 will bring together top offerings from the furnishing world for office, banks, insurance offices, post offices and other public spaces, seating for offices and public spaces, acoustics, flooring and coverings, lighting and office accessories as well as audio-video technologies and communication.
The Walk, a large installation on display inside the Workplace3.0 pavilions, was conceived by internationally-renowned Italian architect Michele De Lucchi as an area for presenting ideas and design triggers for planning workspaces in their many different contemporary interpretations. New activities and working modes generate new workspaces and design requisites for inhabiting them, with offices increasingly becoming a hub for social interface, meetings and living side by side.
Another event – IN ITALY – created by the architectural practice Four in the Morning to a design by architect Dario Curatolo, will feature 64 Italian manufacturers and a select group of designers, planners and architects, who will tackle the theme of products, design and planning.
The firms involved will be presented innovatively through the medium of film, with the curator taking the audience through a virtual exploration of Italian knowhow and uniqueness and the production processes behind each object. The film will become an installation, which in turn will become an app used to explore five apartments – in Lecce, Milan, Rome, Venice and the Sienese hillside – done up in five different styles.
SaloneSatellite will be back in Pavilions 22 and 24 – the same as Workplace3.0 – with free public entry from Cargo 5. Now in its 18th edition, the exhibition is dedicated to the theme Life Planet, dovetailing with that of EXPO 2015: Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.
SaloneSatellite is a meeting point for 700 young designers selected from all over the world, businessmen, architects, interior designers and the press. The exhibition displays the work of designers under 35, and offers them a chance to be selected for the sixth annual edition of the SaloneSatellite Award for the three best prototypes on exhibit, relating to the product categories on show.
The Salone del Mobile can be followed on the social networks and through its website and the online magazine, plus its official Facebook and Twitter pages, a dedicated YouTube channel, Flickr gallery and profiles on LinkedIn and Pinterest. The official hashtags for the 2015 edition on Twitter @iSaloniofficial are: #iSaloni, #Euroluce, #Workplace, #SaloneUfficio and #SaloneSatellite.
For the second year running, I Saloni is renewing its ties with the Municipality of Milan, Councillor for Employment, Economic Development, University and Research, Cristina Tajani, and the city’s design schools, which led to the setting up of the Welcome Project at the 2014 edition.
Salone del Mobile information points at various focal points around the city will be manned by 100 students, on hand to provide visitors with information on how to negotiate the city, on the trade fair itself and the palimpsest of events in Milan organised by the department.
I Saloni is also one of the supporters of the exhibition Leonardo 1452-1519 – the biggest Leonardo da Vinci exhibition ever held in Italy – which will launch on 15th April at Milan’s Palazzo Reale, just after the I Saloni opens. Promoted by the Municipality of Milan, the project was conceived and carried out within the framework of a partnership between Palazzo Reale and Skira going back over more than 15 years, and curated by Pietro C Marani and Maria Teresa Fiorio – both prominent Renaissance art historians.
For the third year running, an agreement between I Saloni, Milan Fairgrounds and Milan’s transport agency ATM means that visitors will be able to acquire a combined ticket, valid for public transport on Milan’s urban network and for entry to the trade fair.
Trenitalia high-speed Frecciarossa, Frecciabianca and EuroCity trains will stop specially at Rho Fiera Expo Milano during I Saloni. Frecciarossa and Frecciabianca will make three stops during both the morning and the afternoon, as well as two EuroCity train pairs to and from Switzerland.
Thanks to an agreement with SkyTeam Global Meetings, exhibitors, operators and journalists taking part in I Saloni will be eligible for discounts of between 5% and 15% on flights, depending on flight class. Discounts are available on all international and intercontinental return flights to Milan, operated by SkyTeam member airlines between 9th and 24th April. Negotiations are currently under way with Alitalia for discounted airfares on national flights to and from Milan during the show.
I Saloni is also making the real-time Salone del Mobile.Milano 2015 app available for free download on iOS and Android devices, enabling people to plan their visits and orientate themselves at the fairgrounds.
