Salone del Mobile.Milano 2027 Salone Contract Unveils Masterplan, Curated by Rem Koolhaas’ Team to Restructure the Industry Collaboration Ecosystem

Recently, Salone del Mobile.Milano officially unveiled the Masterplan for the 2027 Salone Contract project, curated by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) led by Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten. On-site, it was observed that this launch marks the official start of preparations for 2027 by Salone del Mobile.Milano. This new project, focusing on one of the most dynamic areas of the industry, breaks away from traditional exhibition models and is committed to building an industry ecosystem platform integrating communication, negotiation and collaboration.

It was learned on-site that Salone Contract is not a simple exhibition carrier, but an "exchange hub" that gathers industry participants, professional skills and various projects. In the Contract furniture field, design, production, supply and management run through the entire life cycle of large-scale projects. Through a series of agreements, products and services are integrated into a flexible system, which is constantly redefined with changes in economic, geopolitical and cultural environments. Based on this industry status quo, Salone del Mobile.Milano and OMA have joined hands to build Salone Contract into a collaborative ecosystem, allowing clients, designers, manufacturers and operators to participate in all stages of the project throughout the process. This model breaks the linear structure of the traditional supply chain, emphasizing the project itself rather than a single product, and regarding it as the core driving force for creating value.

From Product to Project: Restructuring Exhibition Space with an "Exchange Hub"

The core of the Masterplan unveiled this time focuses on how Salone del Mobile.Milano, a global industry benchmark, can upgrade to not only display products, but also present the participants, processes and collaborative workflows that define the Contract furniture field. On-site, the reporter heard that the solution proposed by Rem Koolhaas, David Gianotten and OMA is to build a platform that can provide, support and create new opportunities for the industry, promote the integration of different stakeholders, and reposition the exhibition as an active communication environment.

Under this concept, the exhibition space is designed as an "exchange hub": not a series of independent booths, but a carrier that guides participants to conduct meetings, negotiations and business matching. The entire exhibition is like an explorable city, composed of spacious passageways and shared communication spaces, providing sufficient interaction scenarios for industry professionals.

Four Core Elements to Build a Flexible and Diverse Exhibition System

It was learned from the Masterplan released on-site that the "exchange hub" is built around four core elements: the Forum, exhibition podiums, project plazas and B2B arenas. Among them, the Forum is located at the intersection of the main axes of the exhibition grid, serving as the spatial and conceptual core of the entire exhibition. Composed of a movable and deformable dome that functions as a projection surface, it hosts various activities, from large-scale conferences and small seminars to working meetings and social interactions.

The exhibition podiums form the main body of the "exchange hub", distributed in four thematic areas corresponding to the main segments of the Contract furniture field: workspace, hospitality and residential, public spaces and nautical. Their modular structure forms a consistent visual language, enhancing the openness and continuity of the space. Each area is equipped with multimedia projection equipment to guide visitors and clearly present the participants and products/services of each cluster.

Surrounding these main modules are the "project plazas", designed as iconic spaces within the "exchange hub". Project display installations are built on movable structures, which can be repositioned during the exhibition to regularly adjust the spatial layout and shift the focus to different industry fields. At the intersections of each thematic cluster, the B2B arenas host one-to-one meetings, informal exchanges and small-scale conferences, open to all participants. Even within a single day, they can continuously adjust their activity arrangements and positioning. At the entrance of the exhibition, an exclusive corridor introduces the basic information of the Contract furniture field and presents a panoramic view of the "exchange hub". This information device defines the exhibition as a dynamic environment built through communication and dialogue.

In the on-site agenda, the afternoon session of the Forum was kicked off by Rem Koolhaas’ keynote speech "Current Preoccupations". In his speech, he combined the firm’s recent projects to discuss the practical concepts spanning architecture, design and cultural research; subsequently, David Gianotten detailed the structure, logic and goals of the Masterplan, outlining this important initiative that will develop together with the industry.

Industry Leaders Speak Out to Jointly Draw the Blueprint for the Industry’s Future

Rem Koolhaas, founder of OMA, said on-site: "Designers work within a system composed of numerous stakeholders and infrastructure. Production is not a result of design, but an integral part of the project itself. This allows us to better control quality and results, shifting design from a purely aesthetic dimension to the coordination of complex systems. In many areas of contemporary practice, these systems have become so complex that they are increasingly inaccessible to designers and architects. Our cooperation with Salone del Mobile.Milano aims to create conditions to make these areas transparent, connect industries, investors, designers and operators, and build an ecosystem rather than a series of isolated transactions."

Maria Porro, President of Salone del Mobile.Milano, said in her speech: "With Salone Contract, Salone del Mobile.Milano expands its scope of action and enhances its ability to accompany the development of the industrial chain. This project allows us to enter new market areas, connect with new partners, and explore new forms of supply and demand relations, while always placing project quality and the international nature of the exhibition at the core. In this process, cooperation with Rem Koolhaas, David Gianotten and OMA is a key step, as it enables us to build a solid, open and long-term oriented infrastructure. For Salone del Mobile.Milano, this means assuming a more active role: not only providing exposure opportunities, but also helping to build an industry environment, establish connections and provide guidance tools in this profoundly changing market. The cooperation with OMA over the past few months has clearly reflected this vision."

David Gianotten, Managing Partner and Architect of OMA, concluded: "Salone Contract is an evolving initiative that will develop alongside economic, geopolitical and cultural changes. The Masterplan establishes a framework that can accommodate and support the dynamic interaction of different industry participants, promoting the integration of diverse interests. We hope this project will help Salone del Mobile.Milano consolidate its position as an international benchmark and become a platform that accompanies industry participants in interpreting the ever-changing Contract furniture field, creating not only business opportunities but also conditions for the stable, sustainable and long-term development of the industry. This project remains open to feedback: we invite all people to participate in dialogue and contribute to advancing the preparations for the first exhibition in 2027."

Looking Ahead to 2027: Multiple Measures to Build an International Collaboration Platform

It was learned on-site that as a forward-looking activity for the 2027 Salone Contract, the first day of the 2026 Salone Contract Forum also held two thematic roundtable meetings, focusing on industry opportunities in transformation and the core pillars of the Contract furniture ecosystem respectively. This is an important step in building the platform. In 2026, a thematic route for exhibitors has been planned in the pavilions of Fiera Milano, Rho, and a matching platform has been developed in cooperation with ICE (Italian Trade Agency), aiming to connect high-quality supply and demand parties and explore new market interaction models.

In addition, starting from September 2026, Salone Contract will launch an international road tour, focusing on the core market areas of large-scale projects, in-depth exploring global industry trends, emerging dynamics and current and future investment directions, and gradually building an international audience to prepare for the first exhibition in 2027.（All the images: courtesy of Salone del Mobile.Milano）