A breath of fresh air sweeps through the Furniture Show in Milan. From 16 to 21 April 08 the vibrant energy of Spanish contemporary design was on show in the Fuori Saloni. Under the slogan “Spain Playtime,Fresh Air in the Spanish Design” an exhibition of over 60 products was held at Nhow Hotel in Via Tortona.

The thread running through the whole layout design – entrusted to Ana Mir and Emili Padrós of the Emiliana Design studio – was the theme of the “game”, an element typical of the Spanish culture, understood as a joyful activity that contributes to the overall development of the human personality.

In Spain play has been an element very present in all spheres of society. Contemporary Spanish design draws nourishment from all that surrounds it, also feeding on play, on the fun climate and the form of shared entertainment that are typical of Mediterranean countries. Design, like all creative activities, also depends to a large extent on our capacity to play. In this case, to play with the types and new uses of objects or spaces, to play with forms, colours, composition, light and materials, to play with concepts and ideas, also in the most technological production processes.

Under the attractive title of the exhibition, the soccer field, the deck of cards, the track field and the target of the rifle range became the symbolic elements of the strong visual impact, utilized in the coordinated image of the exhibition and in the big yellow-red panels that signal the beginning and the end of the internal journey around functional areas.

Symbolically the entrance to the exhibition was through an oversized football goal post visible from the street and the whole exposition, and was covered by a flexible floor normally used in the playing areas.

The exhibition started with the outdoors, with the self-standing shelters of Gandía Blasco, the stools of Mobles 114 and the parasols of Puntmobles, to continue in an informal, colourful, relaxed area that drawed close to the soft Nanimarquina rugs and the lively furnishings elements of Dd in injected plastic.

Furniture, lamps and armchairs were suspended to aerial structures with a clear reference to swings and slides, typical of children on playing grounds particularly stressed by the garden fence, which defined the whole area.

Next to an interactive area with table footballs that were able to be used by the public, there was an essential study area with the linear chairs by Andreu World and the whimsical illuminated bodies by Metalarte, while in an artificial garden you found the Kettal seats, the Ona lamps and the DO+CE tables.

If the irony was explicit in the projects for the libraries, containers and complements of ABR, BD Barcelona, Emiliana Design Studio, RS and Stone Design, the light became magic with B.Lux, Inlight! (Estiluz Group), Marset and Santa&Cole.

The office was more functional with tables by Viccarbe, the wide lamps of Vibia, the seats by Akaba, Bonestil, Capdell and Sellex, the Estoli containers and the multi-purpose objects by Vilagrasa. In the living zone the protagonists were BD Barcelona, Joquer, Perobell and Sancal.

The finishing touches came from the characteristic shapes of the complements by Amat, Concepta, Delica, Dinamica Complements, Enea, galeria H2O, Lladró, Martínez Otero, Stua, Uno design, with references to nature, human body and geometry.

The result was a strongly evocative itinerary, to be seen, touched and tried out, all under one umbrella: a happy and cheerful mix of pieces by the companies (39 brands involved) and the best known designers, ideas by young designers and innovative and avant-garde proposals, suggesting new interpretations and meanings of Spanish design, which expressed all the sunny brightness of its Mediterranean culture.