11 Jul SALONE DEL MOBILE day two
During the exhibition, exciting novelties await visitors not only among the walls of the pavilions, but it is also worth keeping an open eye at every corner of the city since almost every inner courtyard hides a surprise for those interested, whether it is a special showroom, a design apartment or the final installation product of fantastic cooperation.We also continued our second day with Fuorisalone’s programmes, targeting the Brera design district within those. Every year, I am enthusiastically preparing lists of programmes and must-see installations in advance, which we would like to see under any circumstances and on the basis of which we capture the city, but on the way we keep coming across the inviting window of a wonderful showroom, which leads us off the ‘designated path’. Unfortunately, after each Salone, we finish the exhibition with a little disappointment that we did not see a tenth of the planned programmes this year either.😊
We started our journey on Via Solferino, where we came across a luring inner courtyard already in the first gateway, courtesy of Boffi/DePadova. The Time & Style edition presents the contemporary evolution of traditional Japanese wood craftsmanship. The design brand has been promoting their country’s long-standing traditions and carpentry skills for three decades. The capsule collection presented here offers an eclectic selection of contemporary Japanese furniture, harmoniously matched by the sophisticated world of Boffi/DePadova.
One of the must-see programmes for us every year is the installation of the Hermes brand, which was presented this year again in the huge spaces of the former Pelota. The scenery dreamed up by Charlotte Macaux-Perelman and Alexis Fabry impressed us again this year with its simplicity, lightness and, at the same time, enormous power.
In a special way, the home objects could be viewed by passing through four structures, and each of the objects was the result of extraordinary precision. The raw materials of the objects include such noble materials as cashmere, which combines resistance and vivid colours, porcelain or hand-painted and folded leather sheets. Our favourites included a Soleil d’Hermes porcelain set, which takes us into the Mediterranean sunshine, highlighting the yellow colour in subtle shades, giving it strength and depth.
Moving on (roughly to the next gate), we watched the exhibition of British designer Lee Broom, which had perhaps one of the biggest influences on us. The artist, famous for his theatre installations, presented six new lamp collections using carved oak, extruded aluminium and plaster of paris. The messages of the exhibition included that light is often connected to places considered sacred, which create a sense of calm, devotion and reflection. And the stage effect was not missing: when we arrived in the first room of the exhibition, we entered an ancient Roman church, where we could admire a wall lamp inspired by the typical concrete ceiling of the Pantheon, and as we proceeded further, the inner image of a cathedral was revealed, where a Hail pendant was presented, inspired by the light-shadow fragments filtering through the windows of the huge church arches.
As we walked through the rooms, we could admire an impressive exhibition built with enormous energies, where, arriving in the last room, a chant pendant, inspired by pressed glass bricks used as an alternative to lead glass at places of worship in the 1970s completed the experience.
It is always important to take a break to be able to absorb all these new things, so after a quick lunch, we chose slightly lighter programmes. Following the existing paths of Orto Botanico di Brera, Carlo Ratti Associati and Italo Rota designed an interactive installation using 500 metres of antibacterial copper tube. They made a road where visitors can explore the forms of sustainable energy generation and can play with their effects: sound, light and evaporation cooling.
After the shades of green and the whirl of colourful flowers of the botanical garden, we found ourselves in a real little magic box, which took us to the world of dreams. The cavalcade of dynamic patterns and strong colours typical of the Missoni brand resulted in a magical atmosphere, which created the illusion of another world in us. It was difficult for us to return to our tight schedule from dreaming in the soft embrace of oversized friendly animals.
We closed our evening with a double clinking of glasses since we got an important piece of advice about the exhibition, which we had already learned over the years, and will not forget: ‘if you are offered prosecco, you must always accept it’. With this in mind, accepting our first invitation, we tried to get to know the pieces of Marta Sala’s new collection in her showroom, where our favourite was the Flemish armchair presented this time, which is a piece of the Clin d’Oeil collection. Nostalgia, remembrance and a little humour left their mark on the lines of the chair designed by Federico Peri.
After eating prosecco in the inner courtyard with a pleasant atmosphere, we hurried to the closing programme of our day, which was an evening organised by Agape. Here, together with our representatives, with full glasses in our hands, we took a tour of the showroom, where we could get to know the novelties of this year. Each product was designed with meticulous elaboration, durable materials and the harmonious contrast of geometric and curved lines by such big names as Jean Nouvel Design, Patricia Urquiola or García Cumini.
Following the presentation, however, after having a few drinks, we decided, by mutual consent, to have a delicious dinner, followed by a restful 6-hour sleep, so that we could also start our third, not more low-key day with renewed vigour.
