Salone del Mobile.Milano 2018: SaloneSatellite gives an opportunity to young designers and tracks the history of design

From April 17 to 22, 2018, the Salone del Mobile fair will take place in Milan. An unavoidable appointment for the professionals of the sector, who come attracted by the breadth of the products offer and the dense schedule of appointments and projects. The fair is characterized by its five events, which will be held simultaneously at the Fiera Milano.

Among them, the SaloneSatellite, which allows to discover, accompany, add value and offer concrete opportunities to designers who are less than 35 years old. These objectives, SaloneSatellite has been the first to consider. And, on the eve of the new edition, the contest reconfirms its vocation and its desire to dialogue, reflect and analyze the future of design.

650 young designers will be ranged over 2,800 square metres in Pavilions 13-15 at Fiera Milano in Rho, with free public entry from Cargo 4. With the theme assigned to this year's young designers, “Africa / Latin America: Rising Design - Design Emergente“, SaloneSatellite is putting the spotlight firmly on the Southern Hemisphere. Africa and Latin America are two huge melting pots of creativity and design. The theme has inspired a journey that will change our perception and understanding of design, to which an exhibition on the wealth of design in both continents is testament. The Latin American part will be curated by brothers Humberto and Fernando Campana, designers who have been active for some time in the social rehabilitation of marginalised people.

The African partwill be curated by the Franco-Moroccan designer Hicham Lahlou, founder of the Africa Design Award & Days, committed to promoting up-and-coming generations of African creatives. The aim is to showcase design of vernacular derivation together with what is on offer today, or could soon be available, for dealing with social and environmental emergencies and fostering an informed way of life for the future.

For their part, the young SaloneSatellite protagonists from all over the world, will be asked to showcase works that explore the relationship between heritage and the contemporary scene, with projects poised between the new technologies and craftsmanship. An exploration of experimentation, memory, slow design, nature and the force of matter, anthropomorphism, creative recycling, cross-contamination and digital effects, with the power to amaze and trigger reflection.

As always, a prestigious Selection Committee composed of leading international figures from the world of design, planning and communication has viewed works by a large number of designers who will be exhibiting alongside some of those who have taken part in previous editions (up to a maximum of 3). The committee, chaired by Marva Griffin Wilshire, Founder and curator of SaloneSatellite, is made up as follows: Maurizio Riva, CEO Riva1920; Roberto Minotti, CO-CEO Minotti; Gianluca Gessi, President, Gessi; Ricardo Bello Dias, Architect; Stefan Scholten, Designer; Stefano Giovannoni, Designer;Porzia Bergamasco, Journalist; Suzanne Schwarz, Editor-in-Chief, Spectrooms; Luciana Cuomo, Editor, DDN and Patrizia Malfatti, Head Communication and Press Office Salone del Mobile.Milano.

A major new departure for this edition is SaloneSatellite's participation in the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, instituted by the European Commission and implemented and run in Italy by the Ministry for Cultural Heritage (Mibact). The scheme is designed to support and encourage the efforts of those working in European cultural heritage, with a view to raising awareness of the value of cultural heritage as an asset and a resource for the European economy.

FederlegnoArredo and the Salone del Mobile.Milano have always subscribed to the European Commission's approach. As SaloneSatellite clearly fulfils the Commission's criteria for taking part in the initiative (job creation, local and regional development, tourism, social inclusion, community engagement, identity building), it was only natural to want to join in. The selection process is, as always, extremely competitive, in order to uphold SaloneSatellite's excellent reputation, as it “crowns” promising young designers destined for the market and the design star system.

Last but not least, the SaloneSatellite Award - now into its 9th edition - marks a further step towards facilitating the interface between demand and supply, between business people and designers and between creativity and production. The Award is conferred by an international Jury of prominent figures in the design world, which selects the 3 best products on exhibit.

Source: Salone del Mobile 2018
Photography: SaloneSatellite 2017
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