Photo: Press Conference Salone del Mobile.Milano 2025
SaloneSatellite 2025 explores how craftsmanship skills can evolve, innovate, and be passed on to new generations, connecting tradition with contemporary trends.
This event, taking place from April 8 to 13 as part of the Salone del Mobile in Milan, brings together 700 young talents and 20 leading design schools and universities, offering them the opportunity to present their visions and reinterpret craftsmanship techniques through modern design.
Founded in 1998 by Marva Griffin Wilshire, SaloneSatellite has become synonymous with supporting young designers under 35, providing them with a platform for professional development. This year’s theme, "New Craftsmanship: A New World," encourages exploration of how traditional craft practices can find their place in modern industry. Rather than opposing handmade and industrial production, the focus is on balancing craftsmanship and technology, creating designs in harmony with nature.
Young designers will explore ways to preserve and modernize craft knowledge, studying traditional techniques and collaborating with contemporary artisans. Their work may include video presentations, interactive installations, or furniture that reinterprets classic forms through innovative materials and processes. All these contributions will create a collective design vision map, offering solutions to future challenges through manual and artistic practices.
The participants were selected by a jury of renowned experts from the fields of design, architecture, media, and education. The selection committee included Hiroyuki Anzai, Felicia Arvid, Ricardo Bello Dias, Nicole Bottini, Marco Cassina, Tomas Dalla Torre, Beppe Finessi, Ferruccio Laviani, Sergio Nava, Guglielmo Poletti, Marco Romani, and Marva Griffin Wilshire.
SaloneSatellite has previously explored craftsmanship, particularly in 2013 and 2014, with workshops dedicated to glass, metal, wood, textiles, ceramics, and digital processing. This year’s edition introduces a new dimension with six exhibition spaces dedicated to craft workshops, showcasing products that merge traditional techniques with modern market needs.
The focal point of the event will be the SaloneSatellite Arena in Pavilion 7, hosting discussions, lectures, and the award ceremony. On April 9, the 14th SaloneSatellite Award will announce the three best design projects, with the possibility of awarding two honorable mentions. All winning designs will be exhibited in a special section of Pavilion 5 and evaluated by an international jury led by Paola Antonelli from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.
A special guest on April 10 will be artist and director Robert Wilson, who will give a talk about his inspirations and the significance of artistic expression in design. Later that day, visitors will have the opportunity to hear a lecture by Alberto Cavalli, General Director of the Cologni Foundation and creator of the Homo Faber concept, on contemporary craftsmanship.
Admission to SaloneSatellite is free and open to the public, accessible directly from Cargo 3 or internally with a Salone del Mobile.Milano ticket.
