March 2025 | DESIGN & INTERIORS
SALONE 2025
BUILDINGS WORLDS FIT for the FUTURE
words Onur Baştürk
The 63rd Salone del Mobile.Milano, set to kick off on April 8, is launching a new challenge: building worlds fit for the future! The fair’s key themes are industrial production, sustainable innovation, and emotional intelligence…
Last year, the fair wrapped up with record-breaking numbers—over 370,000 professionals from 146 countries. Despite global uncertainties, this year’s Salone will once again open its doors with completely sold-out exhibition spaces.
In Salone 2025’s cultural program, three site-specific installations will be showcased—two at the fair and one within the city. Pierre-Yves Rochon’s installation “Villa Héritage” will be presented in Pavilion 13-15, Paolo Sorrentino’s “La dolce attesa” in Pavilion 22-24, and finally, Robert Wilson’s work titled “Mother” will open at Museo Pietà Rondanini - Castello Sforzesco.
A master in the creative use of light, Robert Wilson will also craft his own vision for Michelangelo’s work titled “The Mother” — an artwork considered one of Milan’s most iconic pieces alongside Leonardo’s Last Supper. Project curator Franco Laera explains, “For Wilson, light is not merely an adornment to what we see; it is what truly enables us to see.”
Robert Wilson is also curating the official opening night at La Scala and will be one of the special guests at the inaugural Euroluce International Lighting Forum—a global gathering designed to discuss the major issues in lighting design. The forum, scheduled for April 10-11, will bring together experts from various fields including lighting designers, creatives, architects, scientists, and lighting professionals.
SORRENTINO’S WAITING ROOM
The installation “La dolce attesa” by Oscar-winning Paolo Sorrentino is poised to be one of the most captivating projects. This installation creates an invisible bridge between the present and the future. As Sorrentino himself puts it, “Waiting is one of the greatest misfortunes in life. To wait is to suffer. So perhaps we should rethink the way we wait. In doing so, waiting might become less painful. A sweet wait, on the other hand, is a journey—a striking and mesmerizing journey. Our waiting room aspires to be something else.”
Salone del Mobile President Maria Porro adds, “Opening the doors of Salone del Mobile to Paolo Sorrentino is a deeply moving experience. With ‘La dolce attesa,’ he invites us all to experience something profoundly affecting. This installation is not just a space; it is a narrative composed of images, sounds, and breaths, reminding us that waiting is a universal emotion.”
ITA’S SUPPORT
The Italian Trade Agency (ITA) is once again playing a pivotal role at Salone del Mobile.Milano by helping to develop new exhibition formats in two key markets—the United States and China. ITA is bringing a large number of highly qualified foreign professionals from 35 different countries to Milan.
