Countdown to Salone del Mobile: Villa Héritage
In the run up to the design world’s most hotly anticipated furniture fair, Salone del Mobile (8-13 April), we are previewing one highlight to look forward to each week, as selected by our editors. To kick things off, let us introduce you to ‘Villa Héritage’, a site-specific installation by French architect and interior designer Pierre-Yves Rochon. Best known for his work on international interior projects including the Four Seasons Firenze in Florence and The Savoy Hotel in London, Rochon’s contribution to the fair brings his luxurious style to pavilions 13-15 of the Fiera Milano Rho.
The space is designed to promote dialogue between past and future. ‘Villa Héritage celebrates this dynamic between history and contemporary creativity and engages all the senses, forging an experience in which light, texture, and sound come together to create emotion,’ explains Rochon.
Designed in the shape of a square, ‘Villa Héritage’ will have the rustic charm of a provincial country property, complete with its own neat courtyard. From an all-white space where moving images are projected onto the walls, to a red-hued salon inspired by the theatricality of Italian opera and a library with a plum palette, every room in the villa has its own individual character and colour scheme. In the centre, a patio will be filled with notes played from an Alpange piano, while the conservatory is reminiscent of verdant green Italian landscapes.
With ‘Villa Héritage’, Rochon follows in the footsteps of filmmaker David Lynch, who created two meditative ‘rooms’ enclosed by theatrical plush red curtains for last year’s Salone del Mobile. Both Rochon and Lynch’s installations are a place to recharge and be transported away from the hustle and bustle of the trade fair. It’s all part of Salone del Mobile’s mission to capture visitor’s attention using storytelling projects that explore the world of design through contemporary modes.
‘Pierre-Yves Rochon invites us to slow down, observe, listen: the spaces inside the villa suggest taking a pause, to remind us that beauty, the authentic kind, transcends all boundaries and becomes a universal language capable of moving, inspiring and connecting,’ says Maria Porro, president of Salone del Mobile.
Founded in 1961 when 13 pioneering Italian furniture manufacturers decided to host a show celebrating the very best in Italian design, Salone del Mobile (often referred to simply as ‘Salone’) has evolved into a global phenomenon. This year alone will see 2,000 exhibitors from 37 countries descend on Fiera Milano Rho to trade alongside an exciting programme of talks and roundtables.
