Saie 2007 in good health

The current changes in the big shows organized in Bologna for the construction industry have not affected the interest for the main exhibition dedicated to building solutions, which was held on October 24-28 and recorded increasing figures as compared to the previous year, despite the upcoming debut of Made.

Saie 2007 was officially opened by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, Pierluigi Bersani, who cut the ribbon at the entrance. During the press meeting, the Minister focused on the opportunities to foster construction activity related to tourist development, still a niche in Italy, and announced a program to renovate state-owned facilities that should also be included in the next budget planning law. We hope these words are not set aside – it’s happened quite often in the past few years – to concentrate on other stringent needs, as public constructions are the only “soft spot” in the massive rally that has been recorded in the building industry over the past decade.

Inside the halls, everything went fine… Despite rumors announcing a smaller show as a result of competing exhibitions coming up next, Saie 2007 closed with few doubts and significant results: visitatori were 178,250, including 7,530 from abroad, repeating the result of 2006 with a slight increase. Exhibitors in Bologna were more than 1,700, 350 of whom from foreign countries. The exhibition area amounted to 180,000 square meters inside the halls, plus 80,000 outside.

Great success was recorded by the side event dedicated to architecture, proving that the Bologna exhibition addresses both building companies and designers, workers and material resellers, embracing the entire supply chain of constructions.

The meetings were all “sold out”: international star designers like Jean Nouvel, Marco Piva and Meinhard von Gerkan participated, discussing a number of topical issues.

Struttura Legno, a special area dedicated to timber constructions taking up the entire Hall 16, did not suffer after the divorce between Federlegno-Arredo and Fiera di Bologna. Many leading brands attended the show, where visitors could find, for instance, the glulam by Stratex and Sistem Costruzioni, the woodworking technology by Essetre and Uniteam, the timber structures by Grosso and the wooden houses by Haas Fertigbau and Boraschi.

New Materials Space was one of the news at Saie 2007. This initiative, in collaboration with “Material Connexion” (www.materialconnexion.com), showcased a selection of new and innovative materials that can be used in constructions. This small area was located in a very central position to draw greater attention, knowing that today, the renovation of products and processes often begins with the application of new materials.

The next edition of the exhibition for the construction industry is scheduled in from 15 to 18 October 2008.