While still wondering about the dates of the event in 2021, the Milan Furniture Fair team has just lost one of the strong figures of the event: Manlio Armellini, secretary general and then general manager of Cosmit from 1965, died this Monday, November 16, 2020. For Claudio Luti, current president of Salone del Mobile in Milan, “ he oversaw and managed the evolution of what would become the main international event “ for design, but not only.

He was part of the Milan Furniture Fair in 1961: Manlio Armellini was one of those who allowed this design event to evolve to make it a major international event today. Along with the commercial development of the Milan fair, we also owe it more than 40 collateral initiatives – including the Saloneellite – which, organized in parallel to the Salon, have made it possible to ensure that the design becomes a stylistic, formal and industrial reference for the entire furniture industry.

In 1987, his activities were rewarded with an ADI Compasso d’Oro, “ for the promotion of Italian design “. Manlio Armellini started out as editor-in-chief of the furniture industry’s longest-running magazine. Very active in industrial associations, he also chaired Assomostre, the Confcommercio association, which brings together 37 international trade fairs organizations. He was the Managing Director of Cosmit SpA – the company that organized the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, Euroluce, Eurocucina, EIMU (now Workplace3.0), the International Furnishing Accessories Fair, the Bathroom Exhibition, Salone子, SASMIL – and the Cosmit Events Foundation in Milan, as well as president of the Cosmit Foundation. He was notably a member of ADI (Italian Association of Industrial Design), member of UFI (Union Foires Internationales, Brussels), member of ICSID (International Council of Industrial Design Societies, Helsinki). He was made Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order and of Merit of the Italian Republic on June 2, 2008.

Given the Covid-19 pandemic, the Milan Furniture Fair did not take place in 2020. If the Salon’s website still announces the next dates in April 2021, it seems that discussions are still underway for a possible postponement to fall 2021 … as was the case until 1990. An important decision, which must also be accompanied by a reflection on the holding – simultaneous or not – of the many other events “off” of the Show, which usually make this Milan Design Week a major event at Parc Rho Eero like in many parts of the city. Undoubtedly, a sixtieth anniversary which will celebrate an edition unlike any other, but which will meet challenges commensurate with the commitment Manlio Armellini has shown throughout his career.