Record-setting attendance has us asking some big questions We?ve returned from Milan for the 2018 Salone del Mobile?the annual event that remains the design world?s biggest outing. After ogling approximately 421 chairs, petting countless versions of woven upholstery (most of them produced by the Danish company Kvadrat), and selfie-ing in elaborate mirrors all over town, we have more queries than conclusions about What It All Means. Join us as we unpack lay out some pressing questions:
Does anyone give a fig about sustainability"
The glory of Milan is partially thanks to its over-the-top nature. Austere it is not. (Evidenced by the general freak-out over Hermès?s weeklong installation, which entailed ten or so interior pavilions clad in 150,000 zellige tiles imported from Morocco.) The official fair, Salone del Mobile, issued a manifesto calling for ?exhibitors to have a greater awareness of the impact of their products on the environment,? echoing ideas that have been argued by the likes of Dutch designer Hella Jongerius and British critic Alice Rawsthorn. As Rawsthorn wrote back in 2015, the yearly to-do in Milan has ?unintentionally reinforced the popular stereotype of design as a superficial, stylistic tool steeped in consumerism.?
For every Emeco?which has a tightly edited product line and takes care to manufacture new products out of post-consumer recycled material?there are ten companies whose Salone installations display dozens of prototypes that aren?...