Show Review: Salone del Mobile 2014

Milan Salone, the city's annual furniture extravaganza, sees exhibitors in their thousands take over the halls of the Fiera Milano exhibition center in the Rho district. Its sprawling physical size dwarfs any motor show, making even the maze of Frankfurt's Messe seem compact, while the list of exhibitors can be plain overwhelming.

Trying to contain the creative force of nature that is the world's largest design fair in one venue simply isn't possible, either. Many choose to skip the showgrounds altogether and take up temporary residence in venues spread right across the city, itself a superb backdrop for the week each spring when the designers come to town.

The furniture fair clusters the latest in color, materials, technology and lighting, making the event a must-visit for trend-spotting auto designers. However, the number of automakers with show stands or installations this year was relatively few – a relief given that we had just 24 hours to see what they had to offer:

April 8 19:00 Circolo Filologico Milanese, Via Clerici 10

Our 'day' at the fair actually starts in the evening in the central Brera district, to see this year's Lexus Design Award winners. Despite backing from a carmaker, the competition doesn't have an auto theme – it simply asked for submissions under the title of 'Curiosity,' and attracted 1,157 entries from 72 countries.

The two strongest finalists were assigned mentors – and given a 5-million yen ($50,000) helping hand – to build prototypes for the show. Iris, by German designer Sebastian Scherer featured individually blown glass globes suspended from the ceiling, while British designer James Fox exhibited Macian – a kit of parts with a distinctly military aesthetic for building a temporary shelter quickly.

Talking to Fox was illuminating. Like many of his fellow competitors, he admitted he wasn't a car guy, but had been impressed by what Lexus had offered, both financially and by providing him with support from a mentor, architect Arthur Huang. However, he was less convinced by the firm's insistence that his work be displayed surrounded by kitsch bark and pine trees.

As if to reinforce the point, new Lexus president and Toyota global design chief, Tokuo Fukuichi was on-hand as part of the judging panel. When we asked him about his new role, he was refreshingly honest:

"When I first heard I was to become president I was surprised. I have been tasked by [Toyota president] Mr [Akio] Toyoda with improving the brand image. What I don't like about Lexus today that we have is created a brand that nobody likes and nobody dislikes."

So how will he go about using design to help Lexus compete more effectively in an increasingly competitive market place?

"Design is about 50 per cent of everything I will try to improve, because wrapped up in that we have the customers' perception of the car's stance, and how the car's look expresses the values of our customers to other people.

"Getting that right is important, so from now on I will only pick the most original design proposals. My biggest challenge is always choosing something that's not similar to any other brand."

"Most important is that we don't follow a particular market or trend. We have to believe in design and create cars with a strong personality. Original is best."

To help lure in show-goers to its exhibition space, Lexus also commissioned three pieces by renowned international artists. MIT Media Lab's 'Transform' had huge wow factor, but the stand-out was 'Interconnection' by Japanese artist Nao Tamura. This giant mobile moves at the slightest touch, sending a ripple of motion right through the artwork, giving a very real visualization of the impact of even a light touch - and an accurate representation of the artist's intention to 'show man's interdependent relationship with nature.'

By Tom Phillips