The Salone Internazionale del Mobile, or International Furniture Fair, was founded in 1961 by Italy’s wood and furniture industry to boost exports and has since grown into a vigorous international marketplace. Today, says Patrizia Malfatti, a spokesperson for Federlegno Arredo Eventi, the organization that runs the Salone, “Italy is first among European countries—and second internationally, after China—in exporting furniture and lighting in the decorative home sector.” This year, some 30 percent of exhibitors will be from outside Italy and attendees will represent 165 countries.The 55th edition of the fair runs April 12 to 17—delighting, inspiring, and torturing its 300,000 visitors with more new designs than can possibly be seen in a short visit. Occupying a vast, glass-canopied fairground in the Milanese suburb of Rho, the event fills giant pavilions with traditional and modern furniture and lighting, with a special section, SaloneSatellite, once again hosting experimental designers. This year also sees the return of EuroCucina and the International Bathroom Exhibition, biennial fairs devoted to the kitchen and bath, respectively.The celebration spills into Milan proper with hundreds of design exhibitions and parties in shops, piazzas, gardens, and palaces. After a lapse of two decades, the Triennale di Milano museum in Parco Sempione is reviving the triennial design show that gave the institution its name. In a nod to MoMA’s legendary 1972 design exhibition “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape,” 11 Italian architects or teams, including Alessandro Mendini, Fabio Novembre, and Carlo Ratti, have each created an interior domestic space.No fewer than nine design districts offer concentrated helpings of furniture and accessories throughout the city. Avant-garde designers tend to cluster in the Lambrate neighborhood, while the San Babila Design Quarter is the capital of sleek showrooms with grown-up prices. In the 5vie, or Five Streets, area near the Duomo, chairs and tableware are tucked between ancient churches and hidden courtyards, while in Tortona, repurposed factory buildings are filled with international design from East Asia, Scandinavia, the Middle East, and a host of other regions.
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