In the design world, it is called one-off when a design for a piece of furniture or clothing is only implemented once.
With a one-off, an idea can be tested, often under improvised conditions.
If it proves itself, the design can also go into series production.
The Salone del Mobile in Milan has now shown that even an entire design fair can work in this fast format: It went on stage this week in the pandemic version, under the name Supersalone.
And almost everything was different than usual at one of the most important and usually largest furniture fairs in the world.
After the exhibition company had to cancel the issues in April of last year as well as this year, they now wanted to set an example with a special issue. For Milan as the furniture capital, for the trade fair as an event with a future. Within a short time, the organizers around Salone President Maria Porro realized an experimental version of the design show, with financial support from the state. Much smaller (in four instead of 24 halls), much more Italian (with only 16 percent international exhibitors) and also more sustainable. Instead of building up huge stands in the halls as usual, the companies had to be content with a few meters of wall space of a given presentation architecture. This architecture consisted partly of rented elements, partly of standardized panel materials,which should then be reused. There was no carpeting at all.
Resistance from many Italian manufacturers
The pandemic has also given the Salone del Mobile a quick generation change: the previous president, Claudio Luti, who is over 70 years old, resigned in the spring. The Italian furniture manufacturers hadn't wanted to join his plan to hold the fair in September instead of waiting until April 2022. The 38-year-old Maria Porro took over as his successor in July - a sensation for the industry, which is still very conservative and male-dominated in Italy. And as confidently as Luti had always represented the Salone, a new spirit could be felt with the sympathetic and unpretentious Porro. Not only did she get help from a team of curators and designers led by the Milanese architect Stefano Boeri, she also took full risks and managed the supersalone in three months.Certainly against the resistance of many Italian manufacturers who were reluctant to take part.
“It was not possible to organize a normal salon this year,” said Maria Porro at a press conference at the exhibition center this week. “But it wouldn't have been right to leave a void.” The design community needs a place to exchange ideas. Porro's appearance was so passionate and emotional that the audience even wiped their eyes occasionally. The longing for meetings in the real world, for conversations and new impressions had been great in the industry, among manufacturers and designers, among dealers and interior designers. The whole week there was a cheerful, relaxed atmosphere in the air, at the trade fair, in the showrooms and exhibitions in downtown Milan, at the receptions and events secured by Green Pass.Beaming faces behind masks and hesitant hugs, after all, many of those involved had not seen each other for two years.
"A trade fair is not sustainable"
Maria Porro frankly addressed the neuralgic point: “A trade fair is not sustainable.” Even if the cost of materials for the Supersalone has been significantly reduced and the trade fair is compensating its carbon footprint for the first time: the next regular edition in April 2022 will be the Manufacturers want to stage their usual sprawling brand worlds again - with booths the size of a house full of fixtures, pedestals and partition walls.
“We have to think about the impact of the fair,” said Porro. “I'm not saying that the fair in April can already be sustainable. But we have to work on it together with the exhibitors. ”Especially since the status of the Salone del Mobile as an important industry get-together and a fixed point in the event calendar had been shaky even before the outbreak of the pandemic. Too big, too much spectacle, too little substance, was the criticism. Was it really still worth traveling from all over the world to the Lombard capital for a few days and then barely seeing the sofas and shelves for all the people? Smaller, regional festivals and trade fairs, for example in Scandinavia, offered themselves as more relaxed and manageable alternatives.
But the supersalone has served its purpose as a one-off and has shown a way into the future. Manufacturers who accepted the restrictions could turn them to their own advantage: with pointed, entertaining, manageable presentations instead of monster stands. The audience didn't seem as overwhelmed as it used to be, and some manufacturers were happy that there was less crowd. Instead of furniture trade fair tourists, it was above all a really interested specialist audience who traveled. The pandemic has thwarted the logic of “more and more”, and the trade fair has seized the opportunity with the Supersalone. April will show whether this one-off will go into series production.