Aside from the, inevitable, consolidation the main theme at Milan Furniture Fair 2019, and the one which occupied us much more than that which was on show for our perusal, is/was the international furniture industry’s increasing hunger for data; a hunger which embodied itself at Milan 2019 in a exponential surge in the number of manufacturers requiring potential stand visitors to either pre-register, submit a business card or have their Fair ticket scanned before being allowed onto the stand.

No data. No entry.

And a state of affairs on which we have penned several hundred (agitated) words; but, this is neither the time nor place for them. We will however return to them at a later date, not least because the scale of the shift we witnessed at Milan 2019 suggests that as a development it is on it way to becoming standard. Which ain’t good.

Elsewhere the halls of Milan were busier with visitors in 2019 than we remember them for many a long a year, the weather in 2019 cooler than we remember for many a long year, and despair and delight stood as close to one another as every year

And in that sense, and as ever accepting we may have missed one or two gems, not least because we decided against sharing our data in order to view new items of furniture manufacturers had, allegedly, brought to Milan to promote, and so subsequently weren’t on a lot of stands, a smow Blog Milan 2019 High Five!!

Milan Furniture Fair 2019 High Five

Studio Daphna Laurens present Prototipi @ Salone Satellite Milan 2016

Unbelievably, Eindhoven based design studio Daphna Laurens have never, ever, participated at Salone Satellite, that section of the Milan furniture

Duple Alexander Åsgård

Privately and professionally we have long complained about, and been deeply saddened by, the lack of side/coffee tables with a

Ateliers J & J Milan 2015

In the late 19th/early 20th century Vienna based J & J Kohn helped establish the Austro-Hungarian Empire as an important

Sarah Böttger & Hanna Emelie Ernsting at Salone Satellite

Milan is awash with churches. Milan is awash with monasteries. Basilica. Friaries. And other suitable locations for submitting penitence. We

Meike Langer Blanche Salone Satellite Milan 2014

One of the stand out objects for us in the Young Perspectives exhibition shown in Boffi’s Cologne flagship store during

Thomas Schnur Salone Satellite Milan 2014

As regular readers will be aware, unlike The Kinks we are no dedicated followers of fashion. Millinery is another matter

Milan Design Week 2013 Sofa Rui Alves aka My Own Super Studio

We quote: “It’s probably fair to say the biggest surprise at Salone Satellite 2012 was seeing Rui Alves aka My Own

Milan Design Week 2013 Live Screen Danielle Trofe Salone Satellite

The concept of the so-called “Vertical Garden” or  “Living Wall” is reasonably well established in architecture. In principle it involves

Milan 2012 Antoinette Bader

As regular readers will know one of our favourite design festivals is Vienna Design Week. And one of our all-time