With 17.1% more visitors than in 2023, the Salone del Mobile.Milano 2024 saw a record turnout, with 361,417 attendees – 100,000 more than in 2022. The number of design professionals also increased by 26.8%; of that, 65.8% came from abroad.
This design-savvy audience was challenged and delighted at every turn. As expected from Salone, artistic stagings and programming regularly elevated mundane objects to the magical.
Products & Design Trends
The dominant theme of EuroCucina/FTK Technology for the Kitchen was ephemeral in nature yet had a pervasive presence at the show. Lighting, used in unexpected ways, rejuvenated familiar products and underscored design innovation.
Surfaces – both vertical and horizontal – were ubiquitously illuminated. Backlit countertops, glowing wall panels and storage features all brought the shine to the designs. While a number of these applications utilized eye-catching colored light, most relied on warm white light, complementing – rather than competing with – the materials and colors.
Even appliances explored new lighting features. Gaggenau previewed a built-in refrigerator with a moodily lit interior. When a drawer or shelf was touched or moved, the dispersed light subtly shifted to focus on that single element of the cooling compartment.
Footsore No More: The Tradeshow Reconceived
At Salone, design is not limited to products; experiences are also reinvented. Habitual trade show attendees will be interested in how Lombardini22, a multidisciplinary studio that applies neuroscience to support the architectural design process, reimagined the floor plans of some of the exhibit pavilions to make visits more intuitive and easier to navigate.
After conducting several experiments in a virtual environment, the research team instituted an IRL approach at Salone. Before heading out to the tour the exhibits, volunteers were fitted with an electrocardiogram bracelet and an electroencephalogram headset to measure their neurological, emotional and perceptual reactions to the revamped floor plans.
The data was convincing. Quantifying the results of Lobardini22’s tweaks in the EuroCucina pavilions, visitors shaved off 10% of the time previously needed to see all the exhibit stands. People reached their destinations in the halls more easily, with orientation skills improved by 15%. Memorability also increased, with attendees remembering 50% more of the exhibitors’ booths.
At the 18,000-square-meter International Bathroom Exhibition, the new loop-shaped circuit efficiently channeled visitors to the 180 exhibitors in 640 meters, down from previous shows’ trek of 1.2 kilometers. The main pathways were widened to improve navigation, with cultural installations and quiet areas strategically located to counter fair-goers’ fatigue – refinements that visitors and exhibitors alike will appreciate at next year’s Salone.
