(ANSA) - Rho-Pero (Milan), April 9 - Hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world are converging on Milan this week for the city's popular international furniture fair and its satellite events. "This Salone is among the most important (fairs) in Europe," said Lombardy Governor Roberto Maroni at the inauguration of the 53rd annual edition of the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, which runs until Sunday.
"This edition of the Salone del Mobile can be an extraordinary engine of development for the Italian and especially the Lombard economy," added Maroni.
Long lines snaked from the fairground entrance out to the parking lot on the first day of the six-day event which is expected to attract more than 300,000 visitors. Exhibition space was again sold out with 1,737 main exhibitors and 650 emerging designers in the "Salone Satellite," a special area of the fair dedicated to innovative, new design.
In addition to the main fair, covering all parts of the home, from bedrooms to living rooms, dining nooks, tables, chairs, upholstered furniture, and outdoor pieces, this year's edition of the Salone is connected with biennial smaller fairs.
Those include EuroCucina for kitchens, FTK for kitchen technology, and the International Bathroom Exhibition. A special exhibition called "Where Architects Live" is taking visitors into the 'private dwellings' conceived by eight famous architects and firms: David Chipperfield, Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas, Daniel Libeskind, Zaha Hadid, Shigeru Ban, Mario Bellini and Studio Mumbai.