Every two years Milan hosts the wonderful Euroluce Fair in the new show grounds at Rho on the west side of Milan. The Lighting show occupies 8 halls of the vast 24 hall complex and the rest of the 48,000 square meter exibition is devoted to Furniture and accessories. Having just come back from a marathon tour of the fair I feel I am qualified to pontificate about the new designs, new materials, new shades and styles which Milan has exposed to the world. And as ever the world will adopt and adapt them over the coming months all over our planet.
Once again the crowds were thick and came in tidal waves on the underground link from the city, metropolitano. As you arrive and get channelled into eager queues up to the moving walkway belts you are a sitting target for pedlars of literature, leaflets and pictures all along the 500 metre approach to the fair.
Your resolve to keep a minimum of bulky literature in your wheelie bag has already gone out of the window, long prior to your purchase of the £35 catalogue which weighs 2 kilos and is essential for any serious lover of Italian style and flair. Of course there are thousands of bodies pressing up against turn styles feeding in entrance tickets that set you back either £25 for one day or £40 for 4 days. This formula must have been worked out by a mathematical genius because nearly everyone visiting needs two days. So you get caught with a ticket which you don't need for 2 out of the 4 days or you have to compress your visit down to one day in which you probably can see only 2 per cent of what's there. I made a bee-line for the lighting halls and wasn't disappointed.
The invention and ambition that has gone into individualising each lighting stand was prodigious. Never have I seen such vast constructs, such unlikely materials, such strange illusions which the Italian producers were displaying. I was rash enough to inquire a couple of prices and although the staff were beautifully suited and groomed it seemed impossible to obtain a price without revealing who you were, where you came from, what activity you were engaged in, and the colour of your underpants. Finally when a price was educed it turned out to be a theoretical retail price at a level that would require the UK to be populated by rich idiots. Nevertheless I pardon all these excesses because what has been exhibited is a masterpiece of design, innovation, colour and excitement.
I would not be able to buy and sell it but sure as eggs are eggs somebody will.
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