The launch of the Euroluce International Forum
Munich, panoramic view of the city
The first edition of a global meeting for a multi-voice discussion on the major issues of lighting design. It premiered in Munich, the first stop on the “Salone, Milano and Beyond” tour to promote the Salone del Mobile.Milano 2025
“The Euroluce International Lighting Forum” is the title of the biennial event that will take place on 10 and 11 April 2025 in the biennial Euroluce as part of the 63rd edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, scheduled from 8 to 13 April. These will be two days packed with events, including round tables, workshops and lecture with international guests. The Forum will bring together a panel of experts in different fields, including lighting designers, creatives, architects, scientists and lighting professionals to discuss crucial issues such as the interaction between light, architecture and well-being.
Among the first names confirmed: Robert Wilson, world-renowned theatre and visual artist, known for an innovative approach that combines light, movement, sound and text in works charged with emotion and aesthetic power; DRIFT, specializing in sculptures, installations and experiential performances that showcase the parallels between artificial and natural structures; A.J. Weissbard, lighting designer and multifaceted artist with an international reputation; the Dutch Marjan van Aubel, a leader in solar design for a sustainable, innovative and fully aware future; Kaoru Mende, renowned Japanese lighting designer known for his work in architectural, urban and landscape lighting, for his approach combining aesthetics, functionality and sustainability and as founder of Tokyo-based Lighting Planners Associates (LPA).
Robert Wilson, artist - Ph. Lucie Jansch
Lonneke Gordijn, DRIFT
A.J. Weissbard - Ph. Monta Tigere
Marjan van Aubel - Ph. Sander Plug
Kaoru Mende
The Forum program will explore the role of light in the integrated and sustainable design of public and private spaces, with a focus on quality of life and environmental sustainability. It will be an opportunity to explore key issues through an integrated and multidisciplinary design concept. Each edition will address specific themes of lighting design, offering inspiration and instruments for creating more inclusive and environmentally friendly spaces.
The Forum is part of Euroluce’s evolutionary path, launched with great success in the 2023 edition, a fundamental step in developing and transforming the format and experience of visiting trade fairs, with the layout redesigned from scratch to create an engaging and contemporary business platform. One of the objectives is to offer the design community an event that will be constantly evolving, in synergy with the commercial offering. The 2023 project, “The City of Lights”, included in the catalogue published by Corraini, has been selected for the ADI Index 2024, the annual review of the ADI - Association for Industrial Design, which brings together the best designs produced in the previous year.
“After the first major transformation of Euroluce that we launched in the previous edition, revising its exhibition layout,” explains Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile, “we are once again proud to be able to present another significant innovation, this time in the context of the content proposed by the event. Light, without the least doubt, is increasingly an integral part of our lives. The Forum, as a crossroads of ideas and visions leading to dialogue, creating a fertile soil for innovation, reflects the DNA of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, which has always been the generator and bearer of new ideas and formats to cope with contemporary challenges.”
Carlo Urbinati, President of Assoluce of FederlegnoArredo, explains: “Light not only makes things appear but creates atmospheres, depth and perceptions capable of interpreting architectures and open spaces, as in a pentagram. And the role of the designer increasingly resembles that of the conductor, who does not limit himself to performing the score, but gives a personal interpreter of it. It is with such a strategic role in mind within the sector that Assoluce of FederlegnoArredo felt it was time to organise a dedicated international forum. I would therefore like to thank the Salone del Mobile.Milano for deciding to shape this idea with The Euroluce International Lighting Forum, confirming, once again, that our fair is not only the world’s leading event in the design and furniture sector but, uniquely worldwide, is home to entrepreneurs committed to designing the future of the sector they represent.”
The Forum was presented as a world premiere in Munich, the first stop on the “Salone, Milano and Beyond” tour promoting the Salone del Mobile.Milano 2025. On the occasion, a Round Table was held moderated by Sandra Hofmeister, architecture and design critic, editor-in-chief of Detail, with as speakers Carla Wilkins, member of the Board of IALD and Senior Partner of Lichtvision Design, a prestigious global design studio in the field of architectural lighting; Stefan Diez, industrial designer, former participant of the SaloneSatellite, always engaged in creative experimentation and with a rigorous focus on sustainability; and Simon Schmitz, also in his debut at the SaloneSatellite, an interpreter of light as a synthesis between functionality and the artistic sense.
"Salone, Milano and beyond" presentation in Munich- Ph.Davide Colombino
Marco Sabetta, General Manager Salone del Mobile.Milano - Ph. Davide Colombino
Marva Griffin Wilshire, Founder and Curator SaloneSatellite e Ambassador of International Relations del Salone del Mobile.Milano - Ph. Davide Colombino
Stefan Diez, Carla Wilkins, Simon Schmitz, Sandra Hofmeister - Ph. Davide Colombino
Carlo Urbinati, President of FederlegnoArredo's Assoluce - Ph. Davide Colombino
Carla Wilkins, Simon Schmitz, Marva Griffin Wilshire, Emanuele Ferraro - Ph. Davide Colombino
Gianfranco Marinelli, President of FederlegnoArredo Eventi - Ph. Davide Colombino
Carlo Urbinati, Stefan Diez, Sandra Wilkins - Ph. Davide Colombino
In the coming months, the tour will travel across Europe and North America: on 4 December it will visit Art Week Miami and in late January in New York. In February, the journey will continue to other European cities, with live coverage and insights to engage the design community. Anticipating the international stages, on 28 November in Milan, at the Piccolo Teatro Grassi from 10 a.m., the “(Eco) Sistema Design Milano” – Annual Report 2024 of the Salone del Mobile.Milano will be presented, containing the first results of the research project conducted under the scientific supervision of the School of Design of the Politecnico di Milano. The meeting will be opened with a Keynote Speech by Charles Landry, the leading international authority on the use of creativity and imagination for the rebirth of cities.
Updates on "The Euroluce International Lighting Forum" will be available at this link.
