Habitare to have its first-ever exhibition showing at Milan Design Week in front of an international design audience
Habitarematerials will be featured at Milan Design Week from 17 to 23 April 2023, when the Salone del Mobile, the most important design fair, and the concurrent Fuorisalone event, bring people from the world of design to the city. This is going to be a unique encounter between an international design audience and 14 Finnish materials manufacturers.
The Habitarematerials exhibition to be staged in Milan will be part of the Alcova showcase, which is curated by Joseph Grima and Valentina Ciuffi. Alcova has been one of the most fascinating and followed events of Milan Design Week in recent years, bringing together influencers from the world of design. This will be the first time that Habitare, Finland’s largest furniture, design and interior decoration event, has brought its own exhibition to an international event outside Finland.
Designed by NEMO architects, the experiential and inspiring material library is based on the concept of democratising design. The experiential material library consists of materials manufactured by Finnish companies, inviting the international design audience to learn more about them.
“Habitarematerials is a material library that is available to everyone, letting people touch the samples, experiment, and create something new. The exhibition offers visitors space and freedom to browse through materials and explore their own tastes by experimenting with different combinations of surfaces and colours. The materials are attractively presented, and there is product information on each sample that visitors can photograph and take with them for making purchases,” say Jussi Laine and Maria Klemetti Laine of NEMO architects, who add:
“The material selection at the Milan exhibition emphasises innovation, and we especially invite the participation of independent researchers in materials science and of educational institutions. Finnishness is manifested through the responsibility and sustainability of material production. The participating companies are committed to responsible practices.”
Habitarematerials Milan incorporates a spatial exhibition design, samples from Finnish material suppliers, and unique furniture made from materials from participating companies. The exhibition features 14 Finnish companies: Cover Story, CWP, Durat, Johanna Gullichsen, Karava, Nordic Copper, Novo Wood, Pihlgren & Ritola, Sera Helsinki, Stala, Luonnonbetoni, Laatupaneeli, Tulikivi and VM Carpet.
“We curate the selection of materials on display. This is to assure visitors that the showcase is beautiful, interesting, and in touch with the times. The exhibition space in itself is very impressive and powerful. The exhibition furnishings add sculptural elements to the space and offer the participating companies the opportunity to create something completely new from their materials,” say Jussi and Maria, describing the starting points of the exhibition design.
The exhibition, which is unique even internationally, provides a unique platform for Finnish companies to become recognised within the international design community and to profile themselves internationally, as Milan Design Week and the concurrent Salone del Mobile furniture fair constitute the most important event in the industry, inviting pioneers from all over the world to come together.
“Bringing Habitarematerials to Milan is part of Habitare’s internationalisation strategy, which we have been gradually and systematically building since 2016. We are very happy that it is specifically Habitarematerials that will be showcased in Milan. The topicality and novelty of the exhibition make it a perfect fit with the Alcova content. Habitarematerials is a very participatory exhibition concept and is thus a a new way of making a showing at the Milan event. We are especially happy to be presenting responsible Finnish materials companies and organisations,” says the Creative Director of Habitare, Laura Sarvilinna.
“At its best, the fair helps to bring about success stories for participating companies and promotes close collaboration in the field. Habitare wants to be at the heart of enabling this,” adds Tanja Pasila, Business Manager at Messukeskus.
The media partner of Habitarematerials Milan is Asun magazine.
More information:
Laura Sarvilinna, Creative Director, Habitare, laura.sarvilinna@messukeskus.com
Pia Sievinen, Communications Specialist, Messukeskus, pia.sievinen@messukeskus.com
Habitarematerials will be seen in Milan as part of the Alcova showcase from 17 to 23 April 2023. Alcova, held every year concurrently with the Salone del Mobile fair, is a platform for designers and companies investigating the future of living and making, and is part of the programme of the Fuorisalone event. The Salone del Mobile fair and the concurrent Fuorisalone event, which spreads around the city, together form Milan Design Week. The Alcova showcase, staged in various locations, will, this year, activate for the first time never-before-seen spaces in the historical quarter of Ex Macello, near Porta Vittoria. Habitare, the largest furniture, design and interior decoration event in Finland, will be held at Messukeskus in Helsinki, from 13 to 17 September 2023.
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