The Contract Hall, a new B2B and networking space at Cersaie 2021 | by Andrea Serri

Cersaie will be back as an in-person show from 27 September to 1 October 2021 in the Bologna Exhibition Centre, where it will occupy all the available floor space (as of mid-May, no less than 95% of the space has been allocated). More than 160 exhibitors will have stands larger than 200 square metres and many will have spaces as large as 400 square metres. The show will also see the participation of large numbers of foreign exhibitors and will offer an outstanding programme of initiatives and cultural events. This return to an in-person format has been eagerly awaited both by exhibitors, who have booked their spaces months in advance, and by visitors, who will find it easier to get to Bologna thanks to the vaccination campaigns currently underway in the various countries and the introduction of Green Passes for travel within the EU.

 

Cersaie 2021 Contract Hall Cersaie 2021 Contract Hall

 

One of the most important new features of this 38th edition of Cersaie will be the Contract Hall, a space set up specifically to meet the requests of Italian and international visitors. Occupying the whole of Hall 18, it will host leading Italian companies operating in the segments of kitchens, interior and exterior finishes, lighting technology, home automation, outdoor furnishing and wellness. The Contract Hall will be the ideal location for the new product sectors thanks to the innovative format created by Cersaie six editions ago and which won an Honourable Mention in the 2020 Compasso d’Oro awards. Each company will have its own stylish space within an iconic and international urban context, making for a truly innovative and practical trade fair experience.

The centrepiece of the Contract Hall will be Archincont(r)act, the exhibition format launched in 2019 which this year hosts 10 internationally renowned architecture firms operating in the various areas of real estate. With this 2,000 square metre space, organised in collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Italian Trade Agency ITA, Cersaie 2021 aims to bring together architectural firms with urban developers and investors in Italy and worldwide and is further strengthening its focus on the world of architectural design and its relations with the contract furnishing industry. The firms that have confirmed their presence at Cersaie 2021 are amongst the top Italian and European architecture practices:

Archea Associati – Florence
Archilinea – Sassuolo (MO)
Caberlon Caroppi Architetti Associati – Milan
Iosa Ghini Associati – Bologna
Lombardini22 – Milan
NOA* Network of Architecture – Bolzano and Berlin
One Works – Milan
Pininfarina Architecture – Turin
Studio Bizzarro & Partners – Ravenna
THDP – London (UK).

All guests in this space, at the centre of which is a Talks Area, will have a chance to admire the “Spa in Outdoor” concept created by the ten practices. This is a highly topical issue for contract furnishing companies that operate in the field of accommodation and hospitality facility renovation.

The Contract Hall will create a virtuous circle interconnecting products, projects and investors, thereby cementing Cersaie’s status as the largest temporary showroom in the world. The event will be a privileged venue where visitors will find selected leading companies and high-end products capable of meeting the increasingly complex requirements of design, marketing and use of the materials on display at Cersaie.

 

May 2021