The Salone del Mobile may be vital to the commercial ecosystem of the design industry, but it is not an especially sustainable event. According to the report Milan Design (Eco) System, published annually by the Politecnico di Milano, the furniture fair produces 13.12 kilograms of waste for every square metre of exhibition space at the Rho Fiera, where it is held. It’s a staggering figure, not only for its environmental toll, but also because much of it could be avoided simply through smarter design.
It’s a problem that Enrico Magistro, founder of QuadroDesign – the Italian brand known for its pared-back stainless-steel taps – sought to address when he invited the Milan-based designer Giacomo Moor to design the company’s booth for the 2026 edition. Magistro had seen Moor’s series of easy-to-assemble wooden furniture developed for the LiveinSlums initiative in Nairobi and was struck by its potential to evolve into an architectural system.
From Salone del Mobile booth to social-impact structure in Zambia
Giacomo Moor and Enrico Magistro
'He wanted to create a pavilion that would have a second life once the fair was over,' explains Moor, who has devised a lightweight modular structure that will be dismantled and shipped to Masala, Zambia, where it will be installed by the social-impact company Koalisation as a public restroom at a local charcoal market. 'It’s a market that is predominantly run by women, who often bring their children to the workplace,' Moor says of the open-air bazaar, which previously lacked adequate sanitation facilities. 'So it will be equipped with showers and changing areas for children.'
Known for bridging design, architecture and carpentry through his multidisciplinary Milan studio, Moor approached the challenge with a system-oriented eye. He developed a modular timber grid based around a custom aluminium four-way connector that allows the structure to be dismantled, rebuilt and reconfigured for different uses. 'We wanted to create a truly replicable system, even in sociocultural contexts different from ours, where they might not have the same machinery,' he explains. Standardised wooden elements slot into the joint to create a lightweight structural lattice that can expand horizontally and vertically, while panels – used as partitions, shelving or roofing – can be added or removed depending on the context.
'The booth at the fair will be very ethereal, very light, with the addition of coloured panels that provide a graphic explanation of the project,' Moor told us of the temporary pavilion, which presents a teaser selection from his Thumb collection – originally conceived for the kitchen and now evolving into the bathroom – alongside the Hum range designed by Philippe Malouin, and a set of new stools by NM3.
'In Africa, on the other hand, the architecture becomes more closed and functional, because it also needs to allow users moments of privacy.' The real challenge, he adds, was ensuring that neither purpose compromised the other. 'The most complicated part was designing something capable of accomplishing two tasks that are so diametrically opposed – a commercial exhibition space on one hand, and a fully functioning restroom on the other – without sacrificing either.'
Salone del Mobile, International Bathroom Exhibition | Hall 06 | Stand B41
