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Host2015 hailed increasingly as a global design hubwith a boom in the Furniture and Tableware area

The macro-area is growing with new entries up by 30% and widespread interest from contractors. A new-generation exhibition concept ievolved with the help of prestigious architects and designers appraises and exalts the components of lifestyles and the future conviviality of hospitality, with many special projects, including the new EXIHS, the  Futurbar concept and the HOSThinking design award.

The fact that the number of new companies attending Host 2015 is up by 30% is the most eloquent testimony to the success of Furniture and Tableware, the macro-area focusing on everything that will dictate future style trends in professional hospitality – from layouts to furnishings, from formats to accessories – at HostMilano – the International Hospitality Exhibition, at the Fieramilano fairground in Rho from Friday 23rd to Tuesday 27th October 2015.

The heart of the exhibition that expresses lifestyles, a natural complement to the ideal triptych formed by the other two ‘souls’ of the event - food and technology – expressed in the macro-areas Food Service Equipment and Bread/Pasta/Pizza and Coffee/Tea - Bar – Coffee machines-Vending and Gelato-Pastry – Furniture and Tableware has also seen the return of prestigious names which, along with the new entries, amount to an exhibition of the highest caliber: Abert, Aficom, Alessi, Allegrini Amenities, Arc International, ATL Group, Bauscher, Baxter, Bormioli Luigi, Bormioli Rocco, BTicino, Calligaris, Casarovea by Parotex, Celtex, Churchill, Corbara, Drake Corporation, Dudson, Durobor Group, Frette, Gaber, Gewiss, Giblor’s, Gold Plast, Guy Degrenne, Hartmann Tresore Italia, iGuzzini, Indel B, Infiniti, Isacco, IVV, Kartell Fragrances, Light-Project Led-Technik, Liuni, Masa, Mepra, Microdevice, Nardi, Napkin, Novatex, N(u)de, Passepartout, Pedrali, Pinti Inox, Pordamsa, Quadriga Italia, Raynaud, RCR, Richard Ginori, Rosenthal, Royal, Sambonet, Scab Design, Siggi Group, Slide, Steelite, Sterno Candle Lamp, Technogym, Tognana Porcellane, Tumidei, Villeroy & Boch, Vista Alegre, WMF-hotel, Zafferano, Zanetti and Zwiesel Kristallglas. The number of contractor firms attending the exhibition is also up on the previous edition, with such names as AFA Arredamenti, Africa Style, Alternative by Mangiapelo, Best.Cold, Costa Group, Elemegi, Lenari italia, Rossetti Edizioni, Sifa Industrial Design and Tecnoarredamenti.

So much Italian excellence, but also a great deal of International Style in a space that goes far beyond the classic fair, with a new-generation exhibition concept designed with the help of world-famous architects, designers and art directors: a true multi-disciplinary, global design hub, in the name of immersive experience, discovering formats, concept stores and hybrid points of sale geared to the future.

This is also confirmed by the many special projects being hosted, including the return of a completely new version of  EXIHS - Italian Excellent Hospitality Services.  The “container of beauty” designed by Studio Dante O. Benini & Partners Architects again proposes a project with four conceptual spaces, transforming the same number of non-spaces of contemporary living into places for esthetics and socializing: thus the centre of the Gym is enhanced by a wellness/spa area, the Mind area becomes a boutique hotel. The Relax area reinterprets conviviality in the form of a multiple dining area, where different cultures come together around large tables, and the Work area is divided into two spaces for technology and e-work.

“In order to provide an effective response to the needs of today’s travelers, who are nomadic, bohemian and used to luxury,” Architect Benini explains, “the designer must also anticipate new trends, by taking a psychological approach, creating the conditions which encourage this meeting of people and expertise. When we design a lifestyle, not only the design is important, but also, and more particularly, the structure and the function of the place, we must define spaces which encourage experience. For example, no-one works in their own hotel room any more, they want shared work spaces where they can exchange ideas with people whom they know are cultured, albeit of different geographical origin.”

Another place where people can get a preview and reflect on the formats of the future will be the Futurbar, an example of a concept bar: a combination of technology, design and social intercourse. An interactive bar where soft lights shine from the floor and the walls, changing according to the mood, the counter becomes “liquid” in a continuous series of interesting images and even the tables become surfaces where virtual objects can be “moved” through an entirely natural form of interaction. Completing the series of innovative layouts, there will be another area, still top secret, focusing on the Outdoor domain.

This year, as well as running concurrent with EXPO, HostMilano constitutes an even more valuable opportunity to confront these themes to the full, thanks to several special projects, Parola d’ordine: Nota dal traduttore:  la frase ha importanza???: and enhanced by a new-generation exhibition space. For an all-enveloping, full-immersion experience, where you can breathe design and discover not just products but new ideas.

Another key tessera in the lifestyle mosaic of HostMilano is HOSThinking, the prestigious design award jointly organized with POLI.design, the Consortium of the Polytechnic of Milan, with the patronage of ADI – the Industrial Design Association, now in its second year. From the many candidates who entered the competition from all over the world, the jury has selected 10 finalists, from whose entries the three winning projects will be chosen during Host2015 and exhibited in a special area.

Some of the recurring trends presented by designers this time include greater attention to social attitude, and the convivial dimension of food, understood as a means of generating new socializing systems. Greater importance was also given to the narrative dimension of products, which, increasingly, themselves become a vector of stories and the characteristics of the contexts that generated them. 

HostMilano’s collaboration continues with the 2015 International Architecture and Design Award for “Bars/Restaurants/Boutique Hotels” the new edition of which has several new features. Firstly, the existing partners – IN/ARCH, Gambero Rosso, the Architecture Faculty of the University of Rome ‘Tre’, Artribune, Archilovers and Host - Fiera Milano – have been joined by other patrons:  the Lombardy Branch of the National Architecture Institute, which will act as a sensor with regard to the quality work done for EXPO 2015, and the patronage of ADI - the Industrial Design Association. The second novelty involves the international character of the competition, which will now also encompass projects by Italian designers executed abroad. Finally, the third is the extension of the scope of the competition to include all forms of accommodation such as hotels, B&Bs, residences, farm stays and hostels.

For further information: www.host.fieramilano.it, @HostMilano, #Host2015.