Salone del Mobile di Milano

It is currently Design Week in Milan and in addition to the Triennale that is occurring for several months the Salone del Mobile is in town for the week. The Salone del Mobile is a furniture fair which is the largest of its kind in the world. It takes place at FieraMilano which is a fairground space completed in 2005 with over 4.3 million square feet of enclosed space. The site was also used for the world's fair Expo 2015. It is an absolutely humongous space that is impossible to see everything in one day.

Main Walkway

We arrived at the fair at abut 10:30am and Hans gave us 6 hours to run around the grounds. Once we got our tickets we split up. We started off by seeing the furniture and home furnishing sections of the fair which was located in one of the largest buildings on the site. We saw a lot of interesting designs and comfortable couches and chairs. We saw as much as we could and took as many free samples as possible before breaking for lunch time.

An exhibition booth

We crossed over the walkway to the International Bathroom Exhibition. There were many different bathroom fixtures on display here. Some of them reminded me of Cowgill Hall. Others I wanted for myself. There was a bathtub made out of wood that completely smooth and looked like it belonged in a cabin. Some exhibits were completely set up rooms that looked like they were part of a palace, We left for next door to the EuroCucina which is a kitchen exhibition. There were a lot of beautifully designed kitchens, some very modern and others very rustic. Although there was no demonstrations we still got some free samples. We were pretty burned out by this point so we slowly made our way back to the meeting point to leave.

A child's bathroom

Once we got back together with the group we made our way across the highway to a housing complex called Monte Amiata in the Gallaratese district of Milan. The housing complex was designed by architects Carlo Aymonino and Aldo Rossi between 1967 and 1974. Four of the buildings were completed by Aymonino and one by Rossi. The buildings are connected on the exterior by plazas and pedestrian bridges. At the center of the complex is an outdoor amphitheater. A resident of the community gave us a tour of the complex including a view into his apartment. It was a well maintained complex and provided interesting moments. I could see the Corbusier influence on these buildings. With this building, our social housing program was over.

Monte Amiata housing complex

That was it for the day. It was long but worth it. Our next trip is local and involves a Mario Botta designed house in Riva San Vitale on Monday.