EuroCucina – 120 exhibitors across 23,000 square metres – will present innovative high quality kitchen products, responding to the steady rise in demand for functionality from increasingly savvy consumers. Stainless steel and natural stone seem to have the edge in this edition. Technological innovation, energy efficiency, ease of use and aesthetic considerations characterise the goods on show at FTK (Technology For the Kitchen), the collateral exhibition dedicated to built-in electrical appliances and cooker hoods, with cutting edge technology devised for the “cookery” world and for bringing the innovative dimension of connectivity into the realm of the kitchen. 40 exhibitors over 12,000 square metres. The International Bathroom Exhibition – 200 exhibitors over 19,000 square metres – will showcase totally innovative solutions for personalising the domestic space increasingly dedicated to wellness and self-care.

The 19th edition of SaloneSatellite will be held in Pavilions 13-15, with free entry from Cargo 4. This year’s theme is “New Materials, New Design”. Participants chosen by a prestigious Selection Committee will be flanked by various international design schools. The SaloneSatellite Award, now into its 7th edition, is a further step towards facilitating interface between demand and supply, between entrepreneurs and designers, between creativity and production. This edition will see the designers present one or two projects that dovetail with the product categories at the biennial events accompanying the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, specifically in 2016, EuroCucina and the International Bathroom Exhibition.

Mixing business and culture is the Salone del Mobile.Milano mission. This year, within the ambit of the XXI Triennale International Exhibition, we will be holding the “Rooms. Novel Living Concepts” exhibition, curated by Beppe Finessi, at the Palazzo dell’Arte in Milan, from 2nd April to 12th September 2016. The exhibition is geared to underscoring the particular remit of interior architecture and providing a vision of home living projected towards the future.

The upcoming edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano also wants to pay particular homage to what came before “actual” design. The exhibition-event “Before Design: Classic” is a reflection on the classic soul of contemporary living and the short film by multi-award winning filmmaker Matteo Garrone – screened in Pavilion 15 F15/H18 – discusses classic Made in Italy taste and its currency in an audio and visual narration. Artistic Direction by Studio Ciarmoli Queda.

The city event linked directly to the Salone del Mobile.Milano will be “space&interiors” – organised by the international architecture, design and construction biennial MADE expo – at The Mall Porta Nuova – Brera Design District: a fascinating display of surfaces, flooring, doors and interior finishings curated Migliore+Servetto Architects.

The Salone del Mobile.Milano will carry on beyond the event itself with the Salone del Mobile.Milano Award. A prestigious jury will assign awards for specific categories, including: best designer, best young designer, best kitchen product, best furniture product, best bathroom product, best display and classic furniture. The award ceremony will be held on 4th May.

Lastly, a new communication campaign that pays homage to our cultural and artistic past, a cultural artistic retrieval that draws on the past but launches itself powerfully as an affirmation of identity, along with a verbally expressed elitist affirmation in which being becomes being there: “If you’re not there, you should be”, a sine qua non condition for belonging to a “community”. A new web platform (www.salonemilano.it) employing the most cutting edge web design and digital communication trends, with user, visitor and exhibitor experience as its focus, accompanies them along the way in a bid to maintain an ongoing relationship and dialogue – before, during and after the event – making navigation more interactive, engaging and multi-channel.

This 55th edition marks another step forward for the Salone del Mobile and another rebirth, an investment in creating through communication the Big Brand Feeling that will make this event into a contemporary icon. Thanks also to a partnership with the Italian – Trade Agency ICE – the 2016 promotional plan rests on bolstering investments geared to boosting professional foreign visitor numbers and setting up the best contacts for B2B meetings.