Following MACEF in January 2008, Milano is again ready for a new edition of the international homes show which is gearing up for its 85th edition from 5 to 8 September at Fieramilano. Made in Italy, World Silver Show, artistic craftsmanship, Italian classics, costume jewellery and fashion accessories, leading importers: these are what bring originality and diversity to Macef.

The strategic axis of the show revolves around the concept of specificity, exalting the aspects that make the Milan show original and different to its main international competitors.

Both buyers and sellers will be perfectly at home at MACEF amid direct marketing activities, delegations of buyers and promotional activities on the web. Macef September 2008 is aiming above all at internationalization, and in this context has initiated numerous contacts to maximize the show’s foreign component, with regard to both exhibitors and visitors.

Foreign exhibitors will constitute around 30% of the total. It is a significant result that confirms how interesting the Italian market is considered by international companies in the home sector, despite the consumption crisis which is affecting Italy along with all the main European countries. The exhibiting companies come mainly from Europe (France, Germany, Spain…), but there are also major Asian and South American exhibitors who offer their “style” – which here mainly covers the ethnic market – and try to establish lasting business contacts with Italian distributors.

“Macef has three strategic pivots – says Sandro Bicocchi, Fiera Milano International Managing Director – orientation towards the sales point, the “spirit of everyday living” and everything related to “gifts”. The first aspect signals the fact that Macef is the place where a great number of professionals gather to find out about life-style trends (innovative products, shapes and colours, but also market and consumer patterns and sales techniques). The world of gifts is mainly evident at the September edition, when the core of the exhibition consists of ideas for products that will be put on sale for Christmas.”

The events are also aligned with the concept of utility - starting with the “Village Shop project“, the consolidated union between Macef and the association “Art, Table and Gift Arts“. Some important table brands will be presented collectively in a large area of 1,500 square metres in Hall 5 .

September will see another edition of “Art&Flowers“, the event dedicated to flower arranging, which as well as suggesting new ideas for decorating the home with flowers, also proposes creative pairing with some of Macef’s most characteristic products. The show will also see the return of “Best of Ornamenta“, the competition designed to emphasize the commercial and marketing value of costume jewellery.

The International Homes exhibition is held bi-annually in January and in September and for 40 years has been one of the largest and richest showcases in its field; Complete Furnishing design, object Gifts, decorations for the home and table.

The most important event among the initiatives arising from charities and fashion, to raise funds for the fight against AIDS, took the place in Fieramilanocity from 13th to 17th June in Milan. An event at international level, organised by the largest Italian and foreigners signatures. An exhibition market fashion and furnishing, whose proceeds went to Anlaids Section Lombardy to fund scientific research of HIV syndrome.

It has organised in 1992. from one of the greatest stylist Gianni Versace, as a product for sale: the creations of the most famous designers, with a discount of 50%. Together with other designers, among them Giorgio Armani, Gianfranco Ferrè, Valentino, D & G, Calvin Klein, Prada, Gucci and many others, Gianni Versace was able to achieve this great event, which has been sixteen years living as “Convivio.”

The success of the ninth edition

This year over 250,000 articles were sold at prices overtime, offered by many companies participating in the exhibition. There were several sectors, from fashion to accessories, from jewellery to the travel and tourism.
Many VIP persons from the world of culture, entertainment and sport have argued Convivio; among them also many artists who donated their works. In addition, one of the largest Italian designer, Giorgio Armani has donated 100 thousand euros, which will be used in the construction of a home for AIDS patients. Fiat Auto has participated giving a Fiat 500, fought auction, painted by the artist Esther Mahlangu of South Africa.

For a better future

The theme of Convivio Publishing 2008 was “Prevention”. According Anlaids are 59,500 cases of AIDS reported in Italy beginning of the epidemic, on average about 4,000 a year. Nearly 45% of cases of infection resulting from heterosexual contacts, while drug abuse and homosexuality, once a major vehicle for dissemination, were reduced to 20.28%.

In general, according to data compiled by today shows that more ‘than one person in two discovered to be HIV-positive only when, or shortly before the diagnosis of AIDS. The treatment is almost accessible only to rich countries.
Convivio exists and will continue for a better future. For the aid of sick people and in searching for solution that will resolve one of the largest problem of our age.

Photos by Dario Raimondi ( the photographer of “Milanoweb.com” )

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Cultural exchange

The installations, that are part of an artistic project set among the cold and huge ices of the South, include base camp’s tents made with flags of different countries from all over the world, parachutes, survival equipments, a particular video reporting the artists’ trip and other works, all symbolizing the abolition of every frontier for the integration and the cultural exchange among people.

Visitors entering the Hangar Bicocca receive their Antarctic World Passport, a passport edition created by the artists as a symbol for the eradication of all borders, real or imaginary, as obstacles to integration and cultural exchange.

The exhibition is also an occasion for presenting other major works created by the artists, addressing social, environmental and humanitarian issues.

The show will be open till 08/06/08.

The characteristic feature of the wood comes in its geometrical folds. With precision to the fine detailing acute angles are used to create the 3-dimensional surfaces given to the seat and backrest. Ultimately this results in an ultra smart, lightweight stackable dining chair.

Presented at the ICFF, North America’s premier event for contemporary design, the yearly fair draws the most diverse assemblage of design professionals to an extraordinary display of the world’s cutting-edge modern furniture, a rigorous curriculum of programs, and a full calendar of ancillary exhibits and features.

Blackbird - Red dot design award 2008

In one of the most renowned and hardest international design competitions, the red dot design award, the Blackbird by Terhi Tuominen has just received an honourable mention from the top-class expert jury.

With more than 3,200 products submitted to the competition, the product clearly stands out from the masses, because this year the design experts for the first time awarded honourable mentions to those products which distinguished themselves with particularly successful design details.

The festive awards presentation with more than 1,000 guests will take place in the Essen Opera House, the Aalto Theatre, on 23 June 2008.

The “FURO - Japanese authentic bath exhibition” showed how Japanese “FURO” (the way of taking a bath), the local natural resources (like wood and natural lacquer) and the skills of a millenary artisan tradition can converge into new aesthetic expression…

Hinoki bathtub

Combining a contemporary fluid shape - a circle section and slightly rounded walls to natural materials, HINOKI bathtub designed by Ryu Kosaka exalts at best the Japanese artisan work as well as the qualities of Hinoki wood.

Beyond its beauty and tactile gentleness, the oil of this Japanese cypress wood is renowned for its healing essences and its relaxing effect. The essences of this wood not only protect the bathtub itself, they also protect and cure the skin of the body while having a relaxed bath.

Material 300 year old solid Japanese cypress with 4 side straight grain without knot. Hinoki wood is a precious, limited resource traditionally used for the construction of Japanese shrines, temples and statues of buddha.

Tomoe bathtub

This bathtub designed by Yukio Hashimoto catches the eye with its elegantn lacquered surface. Black on tender red colour and the modern oval shape create an interesting contrast. This bathtub shows how modern materials can perfectly unite with traditional finishes to obtain superior performances in durability and beauty.

Material finished by Urushi, Japanese natural lacquer, the oldest finishing with antibacterial performance and heat durability.

Among the lot of photos we find images that surprised, that made people reflect, that shocked, that stimulated the entire world, we find images that excited, that injected heroism, images that we never wish to see, and images that instead we wish to see every day of our lives. The just gone-by year best pictures have been all made with Canon cameras. This year edition’s winner is an Englishman Tim Hetherington, who made a picture for Vanity Fair America, painting an American soldier exhausted by war in Afghanistan. The show will be open until 25^th of May.

Taking a careful look, we can notice the Pirelli skyscraper, the arena and some of the most famous and important roads of the Lombardia’s capital, from Larga road up till Europa avenue. In this show the artist’s skills of defining the most symbolic places of the economic capital of the country are endless. Every painting tells the sinful succession of nostalgic events in favor of a perception focused more on chaos than on order. This exposition will be open for the public still tomorrow .

We choose the best photos of ambients and design: from living furniture to kitchen, workspace and bathroom furniture.

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The Salone Satellite is the meeting place par excellence for manufacturers, talent scouts and the most promising young designers. An event that has become a cross between a cult gathering and an obligatory appointment for all those who work in the furnishing sector and who want to be kept up to date in real time on the trends of the future.

This year, there are approximately 570 participants. In addition, 22 Design Schools, spotlight along with the designers. One of these school slots is actually represented by a number of schools in the form of the ODCD program (Oriental Domestic Culture & Design), a joint initiative of Tshinghua University (China), Musashino University (Japan) and Kookmin University (Korea) with the aim of drawing attention to Asian design. Participating at the Satellite for the first time is the University of Belgrade (Serbia) and Southern Regional College-Lurgan Campus (Ireland).

Between many great works from 1+1 Studio-Riccione Italia, Design A4, Vicenzo Catoio, In Design, to Lady Penelope, Od Do Architects, Vivo and many others talents from all the World, specially takes the attention University of Art and Design Lausanne (ECAL), who presents Nidecker snowboards inlaid with Swarovski crystals, “Crystal snow”.These projects were produced by students in Industrial Design and Visual Communication.

Furthermore , University of Belgrade’s Wood Processing &Furniture Design students show us a new wood products , which are based on
activities that are mainly oriented towards developing new products with emphasis to sustainable design solutions and savings in raw wood material, which resulted in many successful prototypes.

Also, the successful work of Fethi Atakol and his “redesign”, which concept is the creative transformation of an old object, which gives life to ” functional artworks”.

This event that is unlike any other, anywhere in the world, is not just the leading event in the home/contract furnishing sector at global level, but also a matchless occasion for an international meeting of minds - not to mention business, image and communication.

As always, there is an infinite variety of goods on offer. The Salone Internazionale del Mobile, together with the International Furnishing Accessories Exhibition is a showcase for excellence covering all types of domestic furnishing, from
single pieces to coordinates, and every conceivable style, from classic to design to modern, not to mention trendsetters.

Furthermore, during this international exhibition , Fuorisalone is getting ready to offer many events, performances, art exhibitions in city center and suburbs. Zona Tortona, Triennale, Bovisa will surprise us with full program about design in Milan.