In the 16^th editon of SaloneSatellite brings together, in the same place and time, as we are use to, the most promising young designers from all over the world with the most important business people and talent scouts gathered in Milan to visit or exhibit at the iSaloni.

Salone Internazionale del Mobile is the trade show around which Milan Design Week has grown. It’s hosted at ‘Milan Fairgrounds’ (with a disappointing lack of helter skelters!) and is a must-see on arrival in Milan. I headed straight for SaloneSatellite – the section dedicated to new designers under the age of 35. Here are my top picks.

Alessandra Meacci’s work

Wallpaper is one of the coolest projects in Satellite. These wall decorations, simply entitled ‘leaves,’ are by architect and designer Alessandra Meacci. Each ‘leaf’ is cut from sheet metal and folded to form a 3D form, which provides decoration in itself but also through the shadows it casts.

Lighting fixtures Braque

The first prize went to Italian designer Tania da Cruz for Braque, a modular soundproofing system made of cork. Tania da Cruz was born in Lisbon (Portugal), grew up in Brussels (Belgium) and finally landed in Italy.

The Moa lamp, a project made by Kristine Five Melvaer, reverses the traditional positions of the wooden base and glass top enabling the light and tinted glass to blend with the surface beneath. Kristine says: “my friend Moa smiles at you from under her bangs”. The lamps are made from hand turned beech wood, tinted glass in a hand-made mould, and a textile-covered electrical cord.

London-based Poetic Lab, headed up by the Taiwanese designer Hanhsi Chen, took third prize for the Wave lamp. The piece is constructed of a blown-glass sculpture that refracts light and presents an undulating shadow that is constantly in motion.

The Spanish firm Mecedorama took home an Honorable Mention for their colorful rocking chair Hobbs. The pieces are constructed using a venerable weaving technique. Surprising rocking chair factory, was born on November 2011 in Madrid mixing the knowledge of a colombian caribbean coast artisan called Rogelio, and the investigations of Lys Villalba, Maria Mallo and Juanito Jones.

Chilean designer Matias Ruiz won an Honorable Mention for Stick Light 210, a lamp consisting of a wooden cylinder illuminated from within by an LED bulb that runs the length of the piece.