Salone del Mobile 2019 celebrates Leonardo da Vinci*

source: Salone

This year, the 58th edition of Europe's biggest design event, Salone del Mobile, honors the incredible mind and talent of one of the brightest figures ever existed - Leonardo da Vinci.
With new formats, sections, and events The Milan Design Week from long ago is not just a furniture fair. From the new Permanent Exposition of Design in Triennale di Mliano to the unique installation of Marco Balich AQUA, dedicated to the 500th anniversary of Leonardo's death, its organizers have the ambition to build a vast network of design, located on a much larger area than before and with new entrants.

photo is mine

Less than two months before the opening of the exhibition, an international press conference took place on February 14 in Triennale di Milano during which we were acquainted with all the new projects that will  be seen in April. 

The 2019 edition promises to be as always up to date with many projects located on over 205,000 square meters of net exhibition space and more than 2,350 exhibitors - including 550 SaloneSatellite designers - and 34% of foreign companies. This year's Euroluce and Workplace3.0 exhibitions will also be presented.

Culture Minister Alberto Bonisolli announced that "it is no longer right for Salone del Mobile to be talked about as a furniture fair, but as a network: part of the collective consciousness, everything that happens in Italy. Design is a clear and distinctive part of our cultural heritage and must be defended and promoted through museums and archives, respectively. " In support of this, the government, said the minister, expects to invest 10 million euros in the Milan Museum of Design.

Following the "New Approach," launched with the Manifesto in 2018, Salone places this year's focus on both the central role of Milan, which continues to win international awards and recognition, as well as the creative capacity and generosity of the spirit of the industrial network, and adds a new term to the Manifesto:

"Looking again at the Manifesto key words, a statement that aims to focus on the values ​​that helped make the event leading to the international design sector, Salone introduces a new word and a new section. This word is 'ingenuity', in other words intelligence as a source and the beginning of creativity, the significance of talent and the genius's ability to create and invent a word that is an invitation to continue looking ahead rather than resting on our laurels, to believe that everything can always be rediscovered. 'Ingenuity' also pays tribute to Leonardo in the 500th anniversary of his death, the Master of All Creators, the forerunner of the relationship between creativity and entrepreneurship, the man of progress, the future and the present ... "said the president of Salone del Mobile Claudio Luti.

source: Milano Eevents

So, while making your usual visit to this most popular Design Week, be prepared to be completely stunned by two exceptional and highly emotional installations devoted to Leonardo da Vinci's genius. The great master left the sophisticated city of Florence, the cradle of the Renaissance in 1482, to establish himself in Milan, a city that was already at the center of one of the most productive regions of time, and open to all kinds of technological development. He has been working here as an artist, architect, engineer and scientist for over twenty years, leaving indelible traces. This is why Salone del Mobile will honor Leonardo right in the heart of Milan, at the beginning of the Conca dell'Incoronata Canal, with an exclusive and memorable AQUA installation dedicated to his amazing research, especially those related to water learning. AQUA. La visione di Leonardo. (WATER Leonardo's vision) can be visited from 5 to 14 April, in Conca dell'Incoronata or Conca delle Gabelle, at the very end of San Marco, in Brera, part of a system of locks that in Milan are called "Chiuse di Leonardo".

source: Salone

De-signo, the other project, dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci, looks at the Italian design culture both before and after Leonardo in a Davide Rampello installation. Located in Pavilion 22, it uses multimedia applications and cinematographic techniques to tell Leonardo's story, as well as the Renaissance workshops and the craft of artists and business today.

DE-SIGNO. THE ART OF ITALIAN DESIGN BEFORE AND AFTER LEONARDO  source: Salone

A new exhibition concept dedicated to design products and decorative and technical solutions for interior design: S.Project, a flexible space in which the keywords will be multisectoral, synergic and quality, will be presented in this edition. 

And something new - for the first time this year, Salone begins with a concert on April 8 at the Teatro alla Scala (Milan Opera), conducted by Riccardo Chailly.

These are just some of the events and projects devoted to Leonardo during the Design Week in Milan in April this year, but the celebrations of the great genius are many more - all over the world, because, as the Mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, Leonardo is still the starting point for our time:

"A figure in the history of art, architecture, engineering and many other sciences reflects the creativity and hard work of our city: the genius Leonardo da Vinci. The honor Salone del Mobile gives him in his 2019 edition is an intelligent way of celebrating Leonardo's work in all his foresight and complexity. Five hundred years after his death, Leonardo is still the starting point for our time. ... ".

* This is the English version of my article published in ka6tata.com
Read more about The Salone 2019 International Pressconference held in February in my blog Trendoffice