What To Expect At Euroluce, Milan’s International Lighting Exhibition

Wendyrosie Scott seeks ‘enlightenment’ at the Euroluce International Lighting Exhibition, which will be held as part of Milan Design Week 2025.

Preview: The Euroluce International Lighting Exhibition

What Is Euroluce?

As anticipation builds for the almighty and annual Salone, also known as Milan Furniture Fair or Milan Design Week, Milan is transformed into the World Design Capital – and the event also includes the Euroluce International Lighting Exhibition, which reflects on both the history and innovation of lighting design.

Sustainability and biophilia are both prominent proponents at the Salone’s forthcoming lighting forum, positing a deeper understanding of how lighting design can create environmentally friendly and human-centric spaces to aid people and the planet. 

What To Expect

Placing quality of life and the future of our planet at the centre, Salone 2025 will present the first ever edition of The Euroluce International Lighting Forum: a hub of knowledge and innovation for the future of lighting design. Directed by Annalisa Rosso and showcased in collaboration with the Italian Lighting Designers Association, the new international event is dedicated to the culture of light and its role in our daily lives.

Offering insights from progressive practitioners, Euroluce is an opportunity to hear from a multitude of speakers while adding your voice to what promises to be an illuminating two days…

Sou Fujimoto, The Forest of Space Arena, original concept sketch | Salone del Mobile.Milano 2025 © Sou Fujimoto Architect

Inside Salone’s Architectural Installations: The Forest of Space

The architectural installations at Salone’s fairgrounds are as exciting and relevant as what they house. The event consistently secures practitioners whose stellar standards mean they are top-ranking in the industry, and while the relationship is a mutual one, securing the Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto to design the space is quite the coup. Ahead of the Zeitgeist and in tune with the Salone’s ethos, Fujimoto is the architect of the Forest Space (and the recent Grand Ring, a gigantic wooden structure encircling the national pavilions at the Japanese expo in April 2025 in Osaka).

‘The forest is one of the oldest sources of inspiration for humankind: it’s a primordial space of encounter, exploration and discovery,’ says Fujimoto. ‘The Forest of Space reworks this age-old concept, transferring it to a contemporary exhibition context and inviting the audience to reflect on how we want to shape our future. It is conceived as a mobile amphitheatre, easily assembled and disassembled, allowing people to experience movement and interactions, whilst also creating a profound sense of space.’

Art and architecture intersect; the Arena embraces the principles of biophilic design, integrating nature into architecture and promoting a modular and adaptable language capable of rethinking public spaces as more open, inclusive and participatory.

Microscope image of a root section, Stefano Marcuso | ©LINV_International Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology

What Not To Miss At Euroluce 2025

Masterclasses and Workshops: Sessions such as Marjan van Aubel’s masterclass on solar design and Adrien de Lassence’s workshop on sustainable lighting design focus on integrating solar power and energy-efficient lighting solutions into daily life and architectural practices.

Round Table Discussions: Experts will discuss innovative strategies for creating responsible lighting.

Technological Innovation: The forum will explore advancements in light source technology, cutting-edge lighting fixtures, and sophisticated control systems that offer flexibility and precision in lighting design, prioritising sustainability alongside aesthetics and human health.

Educational and Professional Development: The event aims to attract planners, architects, and lighting designers, fostering direct relationships between exhibiting companies and decision-makers for integrated and multidisciplinary design.

Notable speakers: Hear from experts including solar designer Marjan van Aubel; plant biologist and artist Stefano Mancuso; artist Robert Wilson; and lighting designer Kaoru Mende.

Special installations: In the final edition to the specially commissioned six-act Cultural Programme plan, noted British artist Es Devlin will present Library of Light, a spectacular installation showcased at the Pinacoteca di Brera.

Installation Rooms and Secrets, Robert Wilson | ©Salone del Mobile.Milano

VISIT

Euroluce will take place from 8 to 13 April 2025, with the International Lighting Forum running on 10 and 11 April at the Rho Fiera Milano, Pavilion 14. It will feature twenty international speakers discussing the impact of lighting design. salonemilano.it