The Salone del Mobile is underway: 327 thousand visitors are expected, a boom induced by 223 million

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The party, for furniture companies, will officially kick off on Tuesday morning 18 April at 11.30 in the pavilions of Fiera Milano in Rho, with the cutting of the ribbon for the 61st edition of the Salone del Mobile, in the presence of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and all local authorities. But for Milan the party has already begun, with over 1,200 events organized throughout the city until Sunday 23 April, which lead us to foresee a Design Week with numbers that are close to those of the pre-Covid period, even if all – organizers of the Salone del Mobile and the organizers of the Fuorisalone – are keen to point out that the objective is not quantity, but quality: of the products and projects that will be exhibited at the fair and in the city, and of the arriving visitors.

Growing numbers are expected

The fact remains that the numbers promise to be significant, as also confirmed by the estimates of Confcommercio Milano, Lodi, Monza and Brianza published in recent days, according to which over 327,000 visitors are expected at the Salone (against 262,000 last year) and an associated on the territory of 223.2 million euros, or 37% more than the previous edition.

However, the “Design Week effect” is not limited to the traditional design districts (Brera, Durini, Isola, Statale, Tortona and 5Vie), but involves more and more areas of the city, this year also moving towards more peripheral districts, such as Corvetto , Certosa, Gratosoglio, Barona, Bovisa and Baggio. Or the area around the Monumental Cemetery, which will host the activities promoted by the Adi design Museum, Locanda Officina Monumentale (LOM) and Fabbrica del Vapore.

Involved 20 neighborhoods

“The appointments take place in over 20 districts, a record number of which we are proud because the participation of these areas is part of the redevelopment and regeneration project of the suburbs that this council is carrying out”, explains Alessia Cappello, Councilor for Labor and Economic Development, with responsibility for Fashion and Design, from the Municipality of Milan, which as every year has collected and selected (through a public tender) free projects and initiatives of public interest dedicated to design to build the official schedule of the Milan Design Week. Among these, two in particular are very close to the councilor’s heart, precisely because they are part of some urban regeneration projects promoted by the Municipality: the exhibition organized by the independent design platform (Alcova) inside the former slaughterhouse of Porta Vittoria, with 150 exhibition spaces; and the installation inside the Marchiondi, the former reformatory of Baggio closed for 20 years and reopened for the occasion in partnership with Mosca Partners and the Polytechnic, an initiative much desired by the recently deceased architect Valerio Castelli.

«Our ambition is that the Design Week is an opportunity for citizens to discover little-known places – explains Cappello -. But we would also like events such as the Salone del Mobile and the Fuorisalone to leave a legacy to the city, that is, that the activities of these days would also have repercussions in the months to come, to bring these places to life all year round, or at least other times of the year”.