At the heart of the great process of analysis that the Salone del Mobile.Milano has devoted in recent years to its system and founding paradigms, reflecting on the new present-day scenario and all the possibilities for improvement, lies the great theme of community. It is a word with a broad range of connotations, implying different meanings but which, for me at least, powerfully evokes the coming together of like-minded people, not casual but necessary, constructive. I believe it is no coincidence that this word has recently become misused: it is the symptom of an urgency, a need for effective engagement. There are three characteristics in the Salone community, which I have come to know in different roles over more than 15 years, that have always struck me: internationality, openness (in the sense of a willingness to encounter new people and fresh ideas, a desire for discovery) and an all-consuming passion for design. As the President of the Salone del Mobile, Maria Porro, underscored in Italian "a Salone—generally distinguished by its spaciousness—is a comfortable space for socialising, hosting and gathering."

This is another reason why the public programme of lectures, talks and round tables has assumed an increasingly central role in the palimpsest of cultural events on which we work each year—as one of the most prominent institutions in the world involved with the culture of design, of product and much more, the Salone must be able to offer its community an opportunity for interchange of this stature and intensity. Shoulder to shoulder with Porro and the entire team working on the project, we became aware of the impact of this design event on the audience just seconds after the start of the speech by the Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, the first speaker at the 2023 edition. The wave of emotion from the crowd was overwhelming. It was clear that this generation of knowledge, straight from the mouths and personal experiences of some of the leading figures in contemporary thinking, took on an irresistible power in the sphere of design, architecture and all the related disciplines: inspiration, dissemination and motivational force for our entire system. From the manufacturing companies to the international press, by way of the designers, students and professionals—nobody was indifferent to the words of those discussing their commitment.

Salone del Mobile 2023 saw the Pritzker Prize winner Shigeru Ban, the designer Nao Tamura, Snøhetta’s co-founder Kjetil Trædal Thorsen and director of product design Marius Myking, and the Associate Partner of MAD Architects, Andrea D'Antrassi, follow each other onto the stage of the Aurore Arena, designed by the FormaFantasma studio in the heart of the Euroluce biennial. The talks gave rise to unexpected ideas, insights, perspectives and activations. It is the principle of rhizomatic thought, theorised by Gilles Deleuze, which refers to a type of root, such as that of the weed, which originates in a single point and then develops in multiple directions—an autonomous proliferation, an open circulation of ideas capable of creating new nodes and connections.

We have built the programme of events for the 2024 Salone, now in its 62^nd edition, on these shared foundations and reflections, with an ideal passing of the baton and evolution of the discourses given in April 2023, and which in reality have continued unabated, also thanks to the Salone's digital platform, which is active all year round, and the numerous trips around the world made by Porro and the Salone team, geared to meeting more members of the international design society in person. Under the banner of Drafting Futures. Conversations about Next Perspectives, the events will be held in Pavilion 14, redesigned by FormaFantasma, upcycling the seating from the previous project. These will feature Francis Kéré, the first and only African architect to win the Pritzker Prize, in conversation with the journalist and editor of Domus, Giulia Ricci, two iconic contemporary design figures, John Pawson and Deyan Sudjic, the American architect Jeanne Gang with Johanna Agerman Ross, Chief Curator of London’s Design Museum, Maria Porro in conversation with Hans Ulrich Obrist, one of the leading critics and curators of our time.

These will be pivotal occasions, privileged opportunities to come together and listen. There will be no shortage of round tables, where discussions will focus on fundamental issues for our sector, involving authoritative figures, and with openness to other disciplines, clients and people who experience them within the context of their professional practice. We will be discussing artificial intelligence with high-calibre firms such as Foster + Partners and Random International, not to mention the expert Paolo Ciuccarelli, director of the Center for Design at Boston’s Northeastern University and founder of the DensityDesign Lab at Milan Polytechnic University, as well as scientific curator of the Salone del Mobile.Milano 2024 Communication Project. We will explore the theme of sailing and design with figures such as the architect Adam D. Tihany, of Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel Architects (ACPV), and spokespeople for brands such as Baglietto, Sanlorenzo and Ferretti Group in collaboration with Wu Bin, the founder of W.DESIGN, Davide Angeli, the Deputy Managing Director of AMDL CIRCLE, Andrea Obertello, the General Manager of the Four Seasons, and the Chief Commercial Officer of Starhotels, Antonio Ducceschi—to name but a few.

One last tidbit: to generate increasingly constructive thoughts and reasoning, we asked some of the pivotal figures who gravitate around the Salone to come up with a few books that they have found deeply inspiring, which will be presented in the same Arena as the talks and that will form the foundation for the Salone Library. A new, permanent project that will bring together the—often unexpected—books that have laid the ground for the thinking of the innovators and visionaries in our industry and which, we hope, will transmit new ideas to our entire, extremely vibrant community. And that’s just the start.

Stay tuned to STIR's coverage of Milan Design Week 2024 which showcases the best of exhibitions, studios, designers, installations, brands and events to look out for. Explore EuroCucina and all the design districts—Fuorisalone, 5vie Design Week, Isola Design Week, Brera Design District and Porta Venezia Design District.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position of STIR or its Editors.)