Macef Number Ninety is a mixture of memories and future
Macef’s ninety shows, which represent almost fifty years of Italian industrial history, will be symbolized by a brand and a special visual identity. The aim of the project, developed by the Fragile studio, is to put the product and its qualities at the centre of events at this “special” Macef. The result is an object with an original shape, a figure that will feature in the novel signage of a show that wants to dialogue with the public through the voices and images of the enterprises that are its protagonists. With this in mind, the “portals” of the individual pavilions will consist of the names and symbolic objects of the exhibiting companies. For the occasion, the two pavilions 1/3 and 2/4, devoted to Table and Kitchen, will be combined in a single area rendered uniform by the architecture.
The ninetieth show will be presented and recounted by two exhibitions. One, Everyday Stories, will be dedicated to the history- through Macef – of the Italian houseware industry, which starting in the Seventies conquered the markets with brilliant ideas and successful products that became icons, such as the Moka coffeepot and the pressure cooker. The other – called Plastic Values – is a rightful homage to plastic, a material that originated at Macef and then spread to everyone’s home by way of the show. An important exhibition both for its historic significance and for the prospects for further development that plastic materials still appear to have, even in paradoxical fields such as disposal, energy saving or ecology. So it is no coincidence that Kartell, among others, will be taking part in the show. The company, based in Noviglio, just outside Milan, was the first in Italy to introduce plastic materials (Moplen…) to the production line and use them to create beautifully made, stylish products that continue to be internationally successful today.
Against this backdrop, located in pavilion 1-2-3-4, an awards ceremony will take place on the opening day in recognition of Macef’s “historic” companies, which although many years have passed, are still present on the market and at the show in great numbers. Alongside them will be companies now considered equally “historic”, which were maybe founded after the start of Macef but which turned out to be fantastic “travel companions” to the show. This ceremony, which will be attended by Minister for Economic Development, Paolo Romani, will be held in the morning of 27 January.
In addition Macef will once more be hosting the Macef Design Award, dedicated to the show’s founder, Cavaliere del Lavoro Massimo Martini, an event which takes on a particular symbolic value on the occasion of the show’s Ninetieth anniversary. This year as usual, the Award will be reserved for young designers under 35 years of age. The competition will be twinned with Creazioni Giovani, now in its fourth edition, organized in collaboration with ARTEX, a Centre for the promotion of artistic crafts. The event is aimed at art schools and those designers who, as well as simply designing for companies, are also in the business, even if in a limited way, of producing their own products.
Events will be fewer than last September but more “organic”. Macef is known throughout the world as a business-oriented show, and it intends staying faithful to the task the market has always given it and which distinguishes it on the international scene. “We are working on the events for the Ninetieth show – says Marco Serioli, Executive Director of Rassegne – the Fiera Milano Group company that organizes the show – with the aim of a non- rhetorical celebration that looks at the many extraordinary years that have brought us to this point, and at the same time at our commitment to the present and the future. Because the market does not stand still, it does not stop at celebrations but always demands the renewed attention of manufacturers and products, of those involved in distribution and, inevitably, also the tradeshow industry.”
