The SaloneSatellite Permanent Collection 1998–2025 will debut in Japan this September as a guest of honour at the Italy Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, offering a striking testament to the synergy between international creativity and Italian manufacturing excellence.
© Salone del Mobile.Milano
Running from 7th to 20th September 2025, the exhibition will present 47 design pieces first shown as prototypes at SaloneSatellite, Salone del Mobile.Milano's platform for designers under 35, which were later brought into production by Italian companies. Each object embodies shared values of innovation, accessibility, formal rigour and ethical production.
Maria Porro, President of Salone del Mobile.Milano, remarked: 'Osaka represents a strategic destination: it is the start of a new chapter in the international roadshow that takes the Salone del Mobile.Milano beyond national and European borders each year, in search of new audiences and new visions. Embarking in Japan, at Expo 2025 Osaka, with the SaloneSatellite Permanent Collection, is deeply significant: we are narrating the encounter between global creativity and Italian manufacturing... a balance between form and function.'
Highlighting the cultural bridge between Italy and Japan, Porro added: 'Japan is also an extraordinary creative interlocutor... Just as today, Oki Sato, Nao Tamura, Takahide Sano... are perpetuating this relationship, dialoguing with Italian companies in a design language that is at once intimate and universal.'
Ambassador Mario Vattani, Commissioner General for Italy at Expo 2025 Osaka, said: 'Bringing the SaloneSatellite Permanent Collection 1998–2025 Exhibition to the Italian Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka allows us to showcase the best of Italian manufacturing excellence and international and industrial creativity... The Expo will feature a vibrant selection from the SaloneSatellite Permanent Collection, which now comprises over 400 products.'
Curated by Marva Griffin Wilshire, the exhibition celebrates SaloneSatellite's long-standing mission to nurture young talent through partnerships with Italian companies. 'This exhibition wants to pay homage to that initial moment, when everything begins... highlighting the results achieved: objects that today tell not only the story of a talent that has emerged, but also that of a virtuous model of cultural and productive collaboration,' Griffin stated.
Projects by acclaimed Japanese designers, including Nendo, Nao Tamura, Makoto Kawamoto and Yuri Himuro, will feature prominently, exemplifying the depth of Italian-Japanese creative exchange.
The installation, designed by Ricardo Bello Dias and Hariadna Pinate, forms part of the Italy Pavilion's "Hangar of Knowledge," created by Mario Cucinella Architects.
More information:
Salone del Mobile.Milano
www.salonemilano.it
