The upshot has been the relaunch of the optimisation of the layout and visitor paths in EuroCucina and the International Bathroom Exhibition, thanks to the contribution of neuroscience and the adoption of a human-at-the-centre philosophy; a total redistribution of the pavilions with a view to grouping the exhibitors by content and visitor target so as to amplify the value and meaning of the visitor experience; an exceptional, packed and multidisciplinary cultural offering throughout the entire event; a constantly evolving communication campaign which, by harnessing artificial intelligence, picks up on the conversations of the international design community; the collaboration with the Department and School of Design at Politecnico di Milano University, in a bid to study the Salone-as-ecosystem, exploring the phenomenon and its socio-economic impact on the region. Added to this are the celebrations for the 25th anniversary of SaloneSatellite with an exhibition at Triennale Milano which goes beyond the traditional exhibition canons, and will be a very real Wunderkammer of objects, prototypes, sketches, stories, images and testimonials.

Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, had this to say: "Capturing new trends, the evolution of an entire sector, by involving and listening to communities near and far, identifying new approaches, methodologies and technologies, experimenting, being on the frontier, as they say: this is still the ambition of the Salone de/ Mobile today. Neuroscience, artificial intelligence, new formats and paths, a unitary but widespread cultural project, encompassing consistency and multi-disciplinarity. David Lynch1s thinking rooms, the Salotto NY installation that takes us underwater, using poetry and numbers to take stock of the state of the art of the bathroom industry. Then there are the talks with a large number of guests, including the Pritzker Prize-winner Francis Kere and the visionary performances of artists and food designers: everything has been designed to offer visitors and exhibitors an exceptional experience in terms of content and container, impossible to replicate except here, at the Salone di Milano, unthinkable to miss, even though it is not limited to a single week, but is spread throughout the whole year thanks to the driving and inclusive force of our digital platform."

The 2024 events will bring together more than 1,900 exhibitors, including 600 young talents under 35 and 22 design schools. The Salone will create worlds - the Salone lnternazionale del Mobile, the International Furnishing Accessories Exhibition, Workplace3.0, $.Project, EuroCucina with FTK, the International Bathroom Exhibition and SaloneSatellite - the single storey layout, the aesthetic paths, the experiential spaces and the rest and relaxation areas will be renewed; there will be conferences and round tables with international guests, vertical workshops on hot design topics and formative meetings for young people; there will be immersive and interactive site-specific installations for learning about the state of the art of the industry or reflecting on the physical and emotional value of interiors; it will stage artistic performances generating visions of tomorrow; it will build a circular bookshop and arena, as well as a new design library. All this in a bid to give visitors the opportunity for an exciting, subjective and memorable exploration, the only one capable of creating long-term connections (business connections included).

"The appointment with the Salone de/ Mobile.Milano will, as always, be the industry's most important business opportunity and a chance for the entire wood-furniture supply chain to show off the quality of its production, in which research, innovation, craftsmanship and sustainability come together. We represent a sector that in 2023 had a turnover of 52.6 billion euros, around 20 billion euros in exports and 32.7 billion on the domestic market, closing the year 8.1% down on 2022, albeit at higher levels than in 2019. In the face of a physiological decline in domestic demand, following two years of exceptional growth, also due to important consumption stimulus, our furniture macro-system has a turnover of 28 billion euros, 53% of which derives from exports worldwide, despite an uncertain economic context, with the main reference markets such as Germany and the United States struggling. Given such a complex and evolving situation, being able to count on an international showcase such as the Salone de/ Mobile.Milano is crucial factor for us, an event that will allow us not only to dictate trends to industry professionals, the press and visitors, but which will also enable exhibitors to gain a broad picture of markets all over the world.

FederlegnoArredo, which represents the beautiful, well made and sustainable supply chain, strengthened by the added value of our design, confirms its commitment to its member companies from the Rho Fiero Milan pavilions, in the firm belief that competitiveness goes hand in hand with a concrete commitment to the issues of environmental, economic and social sustainability, commented Claudio Feltrin, President of FederlegnoArredo.

April this year heralds the biennials EuroCucina, with its collateral event FTK, Technology For the Kitchen (Pavilions 2-4) and the International Bathroom Exhibition (Pavilions 6-10) which will be boasting new exhibition layouts, reworked by Lombardini22, a leading group on the Italian architectural and engineering scene. At the request of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, and for the first time in a trade fair context, the studio has harnessed neuroscience to improve the visitor experience, analysing visitors' neurological, emotional and perceptual reactions to the various paths, and the location and distribution of the exhibition and rest areas. After a number of experiments in a virtual environment, the loop-shaped circuit chosen for both biennials turned out to be more intuitive, simpler to navigate and easier to remember, while allowing the exhibition offering to remain meaningful along the entire route. Unlike past editions, there will be a symmetrical path backing onto the stands on the exterior perimeter walls, the main pathways have been widened to improve navigation, with cultural installations and quiet areas provided to counter the typical museum fatigue that can hit even at the Salone despite all the wonders on display. In particular, it will now only take a 640 metre walk to visit all the stands, unlike the previous 1.2 kilometres.

This also marks a special year for SaloneSatellite (Pavilions 5-7), which will mark its 25th edition with 600 talented young designers and 22 design schools. This year's theme will be Connecting Design Since 1998, showing how this event has "weaned" and nourished more than 1,400 budding designers and forged fruitful relationships between cultures and projects from all over the world for a quarter of a century. To celebrate this milestone, an exhibition at Triennale (from 16th to 28th April) - with an exhibition project by Beppe Finessi and set up by Ricardo Bello Dias - that rethinks the entire history of the Exhibition without simply resorting to a parade of objects: on the contrary, it will showcase the wonderful and complex relationship between the manufacturing world and these young talents, who have brought new ideas to design and the domestic universe from places all over the world. Going back to the neuroscientific approach, given that the brain is spurred to get out of its comfort zone by art, culture and aesthetics, which can become very powerful channels for opening the mind and triggering innovation, the Salone has developed a cultural programme of new forms of experimentation, comparison and in-depth analysis. This proposal will scattered (unlike City of Lights which took place entirely at Euroluce) because it is designed to overwhelm the visitor, with all its beauty, all along the visitor path.