Contract Textile International

Proposte On Contract “Hotels Without Fabric?”

Proposte Fair held a press conference at Hotel Principe di Savoia, Milan, on the last day of November and outlined the final situation of developments. Mr. Mauro Cavelli, President of Proposte, delivered a speech at the conference. Here is what Mr. Cavelli had to say:

 Among the many topics we could have proposed, our choice was to take a second step with the architects; more precisely we want to exchange a few ideas on the hotel, the place for hospitality par excellence. 

 The first time we hear hotels mentioned are in ancient Greece, in Olympia and Epidaurus. People went to these cities to attend games, athletic contests, and religious celebrations. The poor slept together, in shacks, but the rich could already lodge in tent cities where there were single accommodations. Along the Roman roads, there were signs indicating hostels for the pilgrims. Although the nobles and gentry would continue to lodge in private castles for a long time, after the year 1000 real hotel businesses opened because of the intensification of commerce and markets.

The passing centuries have shown us the hotel’s variegated evolution. For a long time the great travelers that crossed Europe far and wide sought in the hotel the home they had left behind in England, Germany or elsewhere, and so the hotels were furnished trying to reproduce the atmosphere of these homes. However, things slowly changed and now, as we have written in our invitation, the hotel no longer receives us making us feel “at home”. 

More than of evolution, we can speak of revolution, and the authors of this revolution are no less than the architects who, as Gillo Dorfles says, modify the backbone of the territory and accustom our eyes to new decors and new colors. More simply, we can say that every time we enter a room we are ready to live a new experience, or at least we are ready to accept a different experience.

 Michele Bonan, Florentine architect with a whimsical creativity, says that “in the

world today the monuments are no longer just the churches. There are hotels that possess great charm and must be visited just as if they were monuments.” And, in fact, Marco Piva posed a question to his audience:  “Will I go in that hotel to sleep or to dream?”. The answer is explicit: to dream!

 While I confirm the need for every building to take into account the history of its location and relative social-cultural context, I cannot but remember, for example, the Hotel Villa Amistà in Verona renovated by Alessandro Mendini, where the addition of playful and ironic furniture in bright colors are in audacious contrast with the 17th century architecture of the building. And while I confirm that a hotel’s Quality - with a capital Q - must combine the aesthetic beauty and the requisites imposed by the regulations in force, I would like to point out Italo Rota’s Exedra Hotel Boscolo in Milan which the owner, Angelo Boscolo, has described as “a modern hotel in the real sense of the word, that is to say different from all of the other luxury hotels in Milan.” 

Truthfully, I must say that this is the hotel that inspired the provocative title of this evening's meeting: aside from the bed and bath linens, it is a hotel without fabric!

 But we are not here to tell architects what they must do or to teach them anything. As was the case last February in this same hall, we are here to reflect together on the role of furnishing fabrics. We don’t even have the pretence of giving you all of the information that you may expect. However, we would like our research to also become your research for the pleasure of exploring topics of common interest together.

Proposte was born of a need, because there was nothing similar in the international tradeshow calendar. It has become important for the intrinsic value of its components: exhibitors, visitors, and products. During these years we have considered the past, the present and the future on a large scale. Once again, this evening we are thinking on a large scale, and in doing so our proposal is to always be on the lookout so we can adapt our actions to the needs of the final textile user. 

I was not able to participate in the February meeting, but I did listen to the entire recording of the conference, which can be found on our website. Well, I heard that there is a certain disassociation between the élite product we are speaking of and the demands of a large part of today's young people. This is quite true. In the future, young people will mostly live in homes decorated with moderately priced furniture and fabrics, but we think that these young people may also enter the new hotels and learn something. And we are convinced that fabric transmits warm sentiments that furniture and objects full of technicalities cannot transmit, because, and I again quote Mendini, “technicality at times has no soul.” And so it is true that all of us must search for unconventional paths and yet conserve our bonds with tradition and quality.

It is with great satisfaction that I announce that the coordinated image of Proposte 2010 won the prestigious Red Dot Design Award in the “Communication design” category. You will remember that last year the advertising page was designed by Karim Rashid. We then used this image on all of the year’s communication tools. This award makes us particularly happy because Proposte has always made its image a priority. And this is why on this year’s tools we will be using the logo reserved for the winners of this award.