Salone Internazionale del Mobile, 5-10 April, 2006; plus Eurocucina and Salone Internazionale del Bagno
Fiera Milano, Rho-Pero, Italia

I was really excited to attend my first international furniture design exhibition just outside Milan recently. The design world looks to this show for what is new in material uses, technology, and where design is going in the world. The show is the world’s largest (over 200,000 people attended the show) with 2006 marking the 45th national and 28th international exhibit. On the even-numbered years, the kitchen/bath exhibitors are included so we hit it just right!

With two major new projects to launch and an Abito brand that seeks smart solutions for a hopeful, healthy home and everything that fits in it… we had to go to the design vortex.

This year was the first year for the event to be held at the recently completed venue in Rho-Pero Milano. It is striking architecture, with multiple buildings connected by a covered spine that bridges and connects the exhibit halls. Restaurants and all kinds of organized space once you arrive handled the throng quite well. There was not a hotel room to be found in Milan that week… fortunately, Milan has an excellent transportation system with a subway coming up right at Rho-Pero and the exhibit hall… some 25 minutes from the heart of Milan near the Duomo where we were happy to have found a room.

With more than three million square feet of exhibit space to cover, we were off and running from Day One. We mapped out what we wanted to see given the three days we had allocated. Unbelievable, but we probably covered only a third of what was being presented. However, we could not have been more impressed. Two of the three of us could speak Italian so there was no language barrier. I was the weak link. The international nature of this show, however, had all the exhibitors switching out languages as quickly as the next person approached them… quite amazing really.

I was particularly impressed with the number of kitchen manufacturers and what they were offering. The quality of their products floored us… no detail left undone. (And, the food they offered to tempt you from their working kitchens within their “stand” wasn’t too shabby either.) We will be including several kitchen and bath design considerations in our two new projects based on what we saw. I was also really pleased to see that our Abito communities were spot-on with the world’s design leaders as to color palette and materials. Our design team of Weinstein A|U, Alchemie Landscape Architects and Mercedes Fernandez Interior Design are truly world-class.

Interestingly to us… there were only two U.S.A. exhibitors. Italy led the pack, not unexpectedly, but the second largest number of exhibitors (and this surprised us) came from Spain. They are the new darling in the design community and seem to be experiencing a renaissance of culture in the last several years… design, food, architecture and art. Did you know that a lot of “Design Within Reach” is sourced out of Spain?

The EuroAsian design communities dominated. On our last day, we visited many downtown showrooms and Casa Armani, which had opened this last fall. You could not deny the strong Asian presence in these showrooms. At Casa Armani, the furniture lines were undeniably influenced by Asian design. Purposeful and tailored were the clear design imperatives.

We are already looking forward to next year! We will be sending two of our leaders to an abridged version of this amazing international exhibit in NYC this May on the heels of a prefab construction gathering… stay tuned.

We believe in the power of design to change the world.

—Steve Robertson, President, Abito