Salone del Mobile 2023 will be conceived as a city

Salone del Mobile 2023 will take place from 18 to 23 April, returning to its traditional spring dates for the first time in three years. The fair just announced its 2023 programme, with ambitious plans to revolutionise the fair model through a new concept for the return of its biennial light event, Euroluce. 

Salone del Mobile 2023: ‘we want to create connections’ 

For 2023, Salone del Mobile welcomes new brands and will unveil a new general layout to make journeys between pavilions easier, creating more connected spaces. ‘We have been learning from the past few years: from the pandemic, from the experience of Supersalone, from our exhibitors and our visitors,’ says Salone del Mobile president, Maria Porro. 

‘People come to Salone to discover what’s new from the brands, but also to create connections. And this is what we missed. To create these connections, the layout of the fair is very important. So we decided to have an urbanistic approach. To think about the fair as a city, an ideal city, starting from the pavilions of Euroluce.‘

Euroluce 2023: the fair as a city

Euroluce 2023 (Pavilions 9-11 and 13-15) will feature a radical rethink of its pavilions. ‘We have been focusing on lighting as an object, on its shape. But light is increasingly connected to technology, to the way it reacts to human beings, how it influences how we experience a space,’ continues Porro.

The design of the pavilions was entrusted to Milanese architectural firm Lombardini22, which will create a layout that enhances visitors’ journey. The new layout will be inspired by Italian historic town centres, reimagining the fair as a city, for which Euroluce will serve as experimental ground. 

The fair also collaborated with Formafantasma, who will curate a large public space within Euroluce and set the tone for a series of small exhibitions on subjects connected to lighting design’s past and future.

As part of the change, emerging design fair SaloneSatellite will be incorporated into the Euroluce pavilions, and in 2023 the focus will be on design schools with the theme of Building the (im)possible. Process, Progress, Practice.

‘This has been an important workshop for us,’ continues Porro. ‘We understood there was a need to rethink the way we exhibit and experience the fair. And we decided to start this journey from Euroluce.’

Fuorisalone 2023: what to see around Milan

We bring you the Fuorisalone 2023 news as it becomes available. Tune back in for more as brands and designers announce their 2023 plans.

Alcova 2023: location announced

Curators Joseph Grima and Valentina Ciuffi launched group show 'Alcova' in 2018: every year since, the project has taken over a dilapidated building somewhere in Milan, with a selection curated by Grima and Ciuffi featuring creative interventions by brands and designers. 

In 2023, Alcova will take over the historical quarter of the Porta Vittoria Abattoir, which will be open to the public for the first time. Spanning 20,000 sq m across six buildings, the event will animate the abandoned spaces through performances, exhibitions, talks, screenings and installations.

‘In a spontaneous and surprising way this community has become bigger and bigger, yet manages to preserve its original nature,’ Ciuffi told Wallpaper* on the occasion of Alcova 2022. 'It is a snapshot of what design is at the moment.’