Salone del Mobile, Milano is one of the greatest design exhibition for already designers and aspiring designers. The most popular design exhibition that every design lover looks forward to the streets of Milan. Hoping to learn, get inspired and obviously make some business deals. Eagerly waiting to be the first ones to see the look of the new launches from more than 2,500 of the most iconic international brands. We decided to look out for some particular brands from the many creative firms that were exhibiting. I visited Salone Del Mobile, Milano with my Star – Florence Design School, I did not only visit the main exhibition but on the way I saw a magnificently amazing structure by Santiago Calatrava.

Visiting Salone Del Mobile Milano is a very similar excitement as to visiting Disneyland but for Furniture. This was the second time in a row I was visiting the furniture fair. But there was a great contrast in my experience. The first time I was there, I was an immature interior designer who wanted to see everything possible and I did. I saw most of the pavilions, collected as many catalogues I could. I went through it in peace at home and get inspired but I was wrong. I wasn’t as excited about going through the catalogues as I should’ve been when I was actually at the exhibition. 

On the other hand,this year I got an opportunity to go along with my school. where I am doing a course in Master as a part of the drawing workshop. The excitement of seeing the Furnitureland again grew even more. The aim of the design workshop wasn’t to see as many stalls/pavilions you could but see few of the best exhibitors. Also try learning their style and approach towards furniture design and their details.

The first stand that we saw was CECCOTTI. The way I was starstruck was unimaginable,CECCOTTI- best in handmade furniture. Ceccotti is a famous Italian furniture brand known for manufacturing handmade furniture in solid wood with organic curves. Going more into the detail of Furniture design , they use the simple joinery- the dove tail joinery. But it is only a function and not an aesthetic approach for them meaning all the joinery are concealed. The finishing material- since the pieces are made out of solid wood, the finishing material was always varnish in varieties of glossy, matte, opaque.

Every furniture piece was given an importance through a magnifying lens with stand to see the furniture. This was a very interesting installation for the interaction of visitors with the furniture. The layout of the stand was in the composition of a grid with different height of the podiums pretending to be a monumental showcase.The material of the podium played a very important role as it was the only medium. Wasunderlying the furniture pieces and the material they used-black marble was doing the perfect justice.

The second stand that we saw was more or less similar to Ceccotti was Giorgetti. Georgetti is also a famous Italian furniture brand known for the mix of materials with neat design and technical details used as aesthetics. Their furniture pieces this year looked more inspired by the Japanese design. Their pieces had a mix of materials with marble, leather ,wood and veneer but with a neat and simple design. They also tried to make handles of the cabinet as one element with the furniture rather than showing it as a different element.

We visited CC Tapis- an Italian company born in France, designed in Milan and produced in Nepal. CC tapis produces hand woven rugs from Nepal selecting the best Himalayan wool and producing it in an eco friendly way is what makes this brand more unique than their creative designs. CC tapis has rug designs that more geometrical in nature and uses more than 2 colours together. The selections of the colour and using them inside a form with a perfect balance is what I noticed the best about them.The use of pastel colours was given importance in the collection this year.The on going trend for colours is using the perfect coloicolour scheme and Pastels are making their way in every designers mind.

I’ve learnt a lot about the present design trend, present materials and different approach towards design through various brands. I don’t find myself at a position where I can point out the weak points about the design I saw but I will put down the strong points I noticed throughout the exhibition.A good design has to have the perfect proportion and the presence of an iconic language. We saw a stall called- NIKARI that had both the factors in their design. Their furniture was designed with the perfect combination of proportion and every furniture had an identity of itself.

One of the most important thing is that- Good design is not everything, it needs to be executed in the proper manner. Through the exhibition we noticed few of the furniture pieces which were brilliantly designed but the way they were executed just killed the charm of the design. Execution is the most important thing in Design. I am glad to have visited Salone Del Mobile, Milano with Florence Design school because it made me look at the Furniture Fair in a very different approach and taught me a lot about the present furniture design.