Road to Salone 2024: tales from Berlin and Copenhagen

All the highlights of the meetings featuring the German designer Konstantin Grcic, the Italian designer Luca Nichetto and the young Danish designer Felicia Arvid

Fresh from Paris and London, Road to Salone 2024 then made its way to Berlin and Copenhagen. The multi-stop journey to share advance information on the upcoming edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, slated for 16th to 21st April, took in some of the major European capitals and is now ready to make its way across the Atlantic. First in Miami, on 5th December, during Art Basel Miami Beach 2023, where two events have been planned: a meeting with industry professionals at the Italian Cultural Institute and an exclusive networking evening set up with PIN UP. Dallas will be the next stop (23rd January), followed by New York (25th January), Las Vegas (20th february) and Chicago (22nd February). The North American stopovers have been planned and coordinated with the support of ICE_ITA, the Italian Trade Agency for the promotion and internalisation of Italian businesses abroad, and in partnership with the local branches of the AIA American Institute of Architects.

On Monday 27th November, the Berlin event took place in the charming redbrick Gründerzeit building, formerly a women’s prison and now an intimate, private space, which also hosts the Hotel Wilmina and the Lovis Restaurant. Germany is the third highest export destination for Italian furnishing - a position it also held in 2022 and in 2023 – while the cohort of German professional visitors to the 2023 event was the second largest. More than 30 German companies were among the exhibitors and there were over 200 accredited German journalists at the last edition.

The special guest at this third event was the German designer Konstantin Grcic, who stressed the importance of human-centred design and the care the trade fair devotes to the visitor experience. The Salone, therefore, as an essential place and opportunity not just for business but also for meeting people and discussing the most urgent issues on the contemporary agenda, such as sustainability. Grcic also underscored the centrality of the exhibition as a matchless opportunity for young people: “I always encourage my students to visit the Salone del Mobile.Milano, because it is the perfect place in which to network with one’s peer group and with other designers who share one’s approach to the profession. It’s a chance to build ties and friendships that will endure for the rest of their lives. That’s how it was for me and still is today.”

salonemilano, road to salone 2024, berlino — Road to Salone 2024, Wilmina Hotel, Berlin - Ph. Davide Colombino

On Wednesday 29th November, Road to Salone 2024 made landfall in Denmark. The event was held at Villa Copenhagen, a fascinating location inside a 1912 building that was formerly the home of the Danish Central Telegraph and Post Office. The hotel conserves the early 20th century charm of the building while adding a contemporary stamp. The decision to include Copenhagen was by no means a casual one – the city is the 2023 Capital of Architecture, thanks to a lengthy urban development process and ongoing commitment to promoting the quality of the “hallmark” and environmental responsibility. The designers Luca Nichetto and Felicia Arvid, were the special guests of the day, putting the accent on hybridisation and mobility – understood as a cultural journey and exploration – as the bases for the new “projectual” maps and on the pairing of identity and nomadism. Both designers have built their skills and careers on different paths than in and for Italy, also on a geographical level, enabling them to have informed and cross-cutting perspectives on design and to implement creativity in different fields.

The Copenhagen event also featured Marva Griffin Wilshire, founder and curator of SaloneSatellite and Salone del Mobile.Milano International Relations Ambassador, and the “professional” godmother of Felicia Arvid and of the more than 15,000 young talents whose careers SaloneSatellite helped to launch. “I took part in SaloneSatellite for the first time in 2018 – it was an extremely exciting experience, because I knew that it was an opportunity to show my work off to an international audience from the design sector, and to forge new professional contacts. It was also an opportunity for me to learn a lot – as an exhibitor at SaloneSatellite you become part of an international group of young designers, which gives you a chance to explore different points of view and exchange valuable advice and stories. You’re all in the same boat, in a sense, and that creates a very interesting community, capable of breaking down any boundaries between cultures,” Arvid said.

Luca Nichetto also shared his memories: “My first visit, as a student, left a very good impression. Unlike today, the Salone was held in the city and not in a fairground. I was struck by the excellent Italian design and by the many people who shared my enthusiasm. Seeing people of all sorts of different origins appreciating the best design in the world was hugely inspiring.”

Follow us on  Instagram  for live coverage of the most interesting moments of the tour, with exclusive content and guest interviews. Stay informed about the previews and all the latest on the 2024 edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, slated for 16th to 21st April, by signing up to the newsletter.