It's Time to Test Drive the Sofas
If you're in Milan and notice that the streets are ablaze with well-groomed people wearing fancy sunglasses and ergonomic shoes and lugging designer bags loaded with media kits, it's because the city's most anticipated annual event -- the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, a k a the Milan Furniture Fair -- has once again descended.
Held from April 18 to 23, it is a design marathon of exhibitions, installations, and cocktail parties scattered across the city. The center of the action is the official fair in the New Milan Fairgrounds in Rho, about 40 minutes northwest of the city by metro. (Last year, 223,138 people attended.) Built two years ago, the fairgrounds is a massive, futuristic glass-and-steel complex designed by Massimiliano Fuksas. Clusters of pavilion pods are strung along an open-air walkway, with a lot of places to stop for espresso, panini and, this being Italy, cigarette breaks.
The grounds are expertly laid out, and with numerous maps posted, it is easy to check out the latest offerings from Vitra, Kartell, Zanotta and more than a thousand other design firms. To spy on emerging talent, head to Salone Satellite, a special pavilion where 500 designers and 200 students from 22 of the most prestigious international design schools show off their wares. Unfortunately, the fair is open only to people in the trade, except on Sunday, April 22 (9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.). Tickets for two are 30 euros, about $41 at $1.36 to the euro. For details, see www.cosmit.it.
Luckily, the furniture fair also spawns hundreds of outside exhibitions -- many free and open to the public -- in design showrooms, stores and temporary spaces throughout Milan. So it's possible to bask in the fair's glow without actually trekking out to the trade fair.
The largest concentration is in Zona Tortona (nearest metro stop: Porto Genova), where you'll find the little storefronts of Via Tortona, the main street, taken over by well-known companies and independent designers.
Don't miss Superstudio Più (Via Tortona, 27), a large warehouse with a grassy lawn, cafes and trend-setting design firms like Moooi, Tom Dixon and Bisazza. Admission is free, and it's open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. At Via Tortona, 54, you'll find exhibitions by Marcel Wanders, Fritz Hansen (10 a.m. to 8 a.m.) and Moss (10 a.m. to 10 p.m.). And around the corner, at Via Savona, 56, is the Swarovski Crystal Palace with imaginative crystal chandeliers designed by Yves Behar, Patricia Urquiola and Ronan & Erwan Bourroullec (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.).
For more information, the pocket-size Interni guide is mandatory. It has day-by-day listings of exhibitions and events, along with detailed maps. You can find it at most corner newsstands in Milan in April. Published in Italian and English (www.internimagazine.it).
Source: JULIA CHAPLIN - NY Times
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