An urban vision of spaces and walkways. What to expect at the International Bathroom Exhibition 2024

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Laufen Stand, Matter, design by Snøhetta

Not just visits, but experiences and spaces that bring the event alive. The changes and experiments under way at the Salone del Mobile.Milano are triggering important developments. Leveraging neuroscience

In order to exhibit innovation, you must, first of all, be innovative. This also applies to the project for the new layout of the International Bathroom Exhibition at the 62nd edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, which will feature 180 exhibitors, 25% of them from other countries, ranged over 18,000 square metres in Pavilions 6-10. To make visits more intuitive and easier to navigate, Lombardini22, a multidisciplinary studio that has been applying neuroscience to support the architectural design process since 2013, has reimagined the biennial event dedicated to bathrooms in a more "urban," ring-shaped form. In a bid to make the visitor experience more engaging and less hard work, whilst also being efficient, they have opted to abandon the traditional cardo and decumanus scheme.

The project extends beyond the commercial dimension, to focus on the quality of the visitor experience and on maximum visibility for exhibitors. "The spaces work to make the event work," says Cristian Catania, Reinventing Fair project director at Lombardini22.

The Neuroscientific approach

In a bid to improve the visitor experience, Lombardini22 has brought neuroscience into play for the first time in a trade fair environment. Its analysis, which explores the world of cognitive science and studies how the built environment influences our emotions and ability to interact, threw up the need for a symmetrical route with stands positioned right along the outer perimeter walls, widening the main walkways and introducing cultural installations and quiet areas. These changes have meant that people wishing to visit all the stands at the biennial will only have to walk 640 metres rather than the previous 1.2 kilometres.

Listening, innovation and sustainability

Listening to the visitors, the companies and the stakeholders was fundamental to determining perceptions and desires and to producing a cutting-edge Salone. “After the 2022 edition, which put sustainability right at the heart of its content with the large installation by Mario Cuccinella, and then being awarded ISO 20121 certification in 2023, we believe it is crucial to continue along our path to sustainability by officially setting out our strategies and objectives, and measuring our progress in a timely manner. For this reason, we are renewing, strengthening and perfecting the Sustainability Policy drawn up last year – this revision is useful to us in terms of acquiring increasing awareness as we go about our daily business, as well as in building an even more constructive dialogue with all the stakeholders involved. We are a global event. As organisers, we know just how important it is to share this ethical and responsible choice with all the exhibiting companies, the fitters, the visitors and the entire design ecosystem,” said Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile.Milano.

Getting out of one’s comfort zone to open the mind and spur innovation

The Salone del Mobile.Milano has devised a cultural programme of new forms of experimentation, discussion and insight in the artistic, cultural and aesthetic fields. The cultural programme is designed to accompany visitors along the entire visitor route.

The "Under the Surface" installation

Designed by Accurat, Design Group Italia and Emiliano Ponzi, Under the Surface (Pavilion 10), tackles the subject of water sustainability in bathroom design. The exhibition “illustrates the complexity of the world in which we live, where it is no longer enough to simply analyse the surface of things, but vital to get to the bottom of them. Taking a deep look at it and at oneself is the only way to understand, learn and become better people and better consumers,” said the design team. A reflection on the positive and respectful relationship with water - the most precious resource on earth - and on the pivotal role the bathroom furniture sector can play in terms of building environmental awareness and technology. The form of the submerged island tops the aesthetic aspect, triggering awareness of the environmental impact of our daily water-related practices. The constantly moving reflections of light represent data on global water consumption.

Dynamic data visualisation

The use of visual narratives shows how the new products presented at the International Bathroom Exhibition have been designed to cut water consumption, both during production and in daily use. The decision to use the intuitive language of data visualisation allows visitors to immediately grasp the positive impact of these innovations. Turning complex data into readily accessible and visually appealing information helps people to understand the importance of their adoption for a more sustainable future. Providing a clearer and more explicit illustration of technological and manufacturing advances related to water safeguarding in the field of bathroom furnishing.

How the companies are addressing these issues. A few previews

State-of-the-art technologies, innovative materials, new collaborations with designers and cross-cutting sustainability across all the new products on display are the main themes of the event.

The high level of research instantly shines through the Matter installation designed for Laufen by the Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta, aimed at underscoring the tactility of ceramics, together with the metal components of the fittings.
The wall panels made of clay, plaster and brass represent the raw materials of the ceramics and the accessories, and are combined with Laufen’s industrial reality through the large shelves on which the Meda collection by the Swiss designer Peter Wirz, Studio Vetica, amongst others, are displayed.

“I sensed the need for a new design language for the washbasin. The collection had to be slender and compact, with a softness that spoke to our desire for comfort and a reduced materiality that reflected the contemporary imperative to create more with less," is how Antonio Citterio introduces the new Axor Citterio C collection.

Ledro’s Victoria + Albert Quarrycast™ freestanding, low water consumption bathtub responds to demands for sustainability, and complies with BREEAM regulations (methodology for environmental sustainability assessment, developed in 1988 by the Building Research Establishment - BRE). 

The formal research carried out by Ceramica Cielo for its new Itaca collection designed by Luca Cimarra is inspired by monolithic ceramic elements, with an oval basin, which comes in both fixed and freestanding versions.

Vismaravetro, which has always focused on valorising its materials of choice, glass and metal, is presenting its semi-frameless Link shower enclosure with hinged door, in which everything works by subtraction.

An artistic glaze obtained by adding mica particles to the mixture is one of the novelties that RAK Ceramics is showcasing in its new RAK-Batu washbasin collection and its RAK-Plano seamless countertop.

Roca's Tura collection, created in collaboration with the designer Andreu Carulla, harnesses technologies with a particular focus on sustainability: the Supraglaze® coating of the sanitary ware ensures maximum hygiene and the Roca Rimless® Vortex optimises the water flow.

The attention to sustainability in Victor Vasilev’s Flaps radiator collection for Antrax shines through in the high thermal and energy efficiency of the product.

Craftsmanship and technological research (sensor switch) come together in the Virgo collection of dodecagonal shaped mirrors from Artelinea, designed in collaboration with Bizzarri Design Associati.

Versatility and contemporary design are the hallmarks of the Bloom collection of modular furniture systems by the Plazzogna studio for Novello.

Precious materials are to the fore in Graff’s Incanto Arté collection of 40 products. Mixers with metal finishes include 24 carat Polished Gold, 24 carat Brushed Gold, Brushed Rose Gold PVD, Rose Gold PVD®, Bright Nickel, and Polished Chrome.

Cerasa is presenting its restyled DES collection at the International Bathroom Exhibition. The photo shows the lacquered composition with internal coating in Stone Verde Alpi 3D resin, like the top and coating of the Zefiro washbasin.

The minimalist design of the SDR Ceramiche Pilò cabinet consists of a powder-coated stainless steel frame and a ceramic basin, with storage compartments, shelves, countertops and niches for smartphones.