As far as themes go, "DESIGN is...?" might be as open-ended as they come. If the vast majority of the 650 young designers exhibiting in SaloneSatellite 2017 are any indication, design is stuff you put in your house, with few deviations from furniture and lighting at the far end of Pavilions 22–24 of the Fieramilano exposition center.

Not that there's anything wrong with that: Time and again, the special section of the world's preeminent furniture fair has proven its value as an incubator or hotbed (as it is variously dubbed) for emerging design talent. Theme aside, 2017 marks the 20th anniversary of program, and the organization saw fit to stage a retrospective exhibition both at the fairgrounds and off-site at the converted Fabbrica del Vapore.

"Highline" sofa by Sebastian Herkner for Linteloo; "Homo Deskus" by Umzikim - Jae Yang for Desklab; "America Great Again" by Luis Pons for Aponwao Design; "Girella" by Massimiliano Adami

"Amisol" lamp by Daniel Rybakken for Luceplan; "B Table" by Ifeanyi Oganwu for Henraux SpA; "Ribbon Chair" by Nika Zupac for Qeeboo

"Fuoripista" by Adriano Design; "Neverending Glory / Bolshoi Theatre" lamp by Jan Plechá & Henry Wielgus for Lasvit

"PET Lamp Mapuche" by Álvaro Catalan de Ocón / ACdO; "Etta" bench by Dossofiorito for Zilio A&C

"Kaos" sofa by Pedro Franco for A Lot of Brasil; "Painting" screen by Alessandra Baldereschi for De Castelli; "Butterfly" basket by Massimo Lunardon

At the fair itself, the "20 Years Collection" comprised a selection of 46 projects from Satellite alums, tastefully presented throughout the exhibition. The likes of Nendo, Cory Grosser, Stefan Diez, Harri Koskinen, are just a few of the designers whose projects were on view among the booths of new and returning exhibitors — a testament to its continued significance as arguably the premier launch pad for young designers today.

To that point, here are some of our favorite projects and studios from SaloneSatellite 2017. (The full catalog can be viewed here.)

Earnest Studio brought several lamps, such as the Mill Table Lamp

It is designer Rachel Griffin's second time participating in SaloneSatellite

The Post series is distinguished by its magnetic luminaires

Griffin also developed prototypes of a floor lamp version

Fellow Rotterdam-based designer David Derksen debuted his new "Aero" lamps

Daisuke Kitagawa showed a complete collection of furniture and lighting.

The "Struct" chairs and "Lattice" cabinet are part of the new "Scenery" collection

Christophe Guberan exhibited his latest work in rapid additive manufacturing 

The Swiss designer studied at ECAL before relocating to MIT

Having worked with Swedish clients, Toronto-based MSDS presented several pieces with a contemporary Scandinavian aesthetic

The new collection is called "Live Work"

Plain Oddity hails from South Korea

Spitsberg is based in Amsterdam

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The "Soban" tables can also be hung on the wall, Shaker-style, when not in use.

Installation view of Spitsberg booth

And now for something completely different: The Future of Sausage!

ECAL saw fit to bring Carolien Niebling's food design project to the Salone

The designer created models such as "Vegetable Mortadella," seen here 

The main attraction, of course, was the free samples. (The fair also saw the launch of a Kickstarter project.)

Made by Rens showed off their striking "Split & Store" shelving system

"The Grove" by Brazilian Gustavo Martini

This is the first show for Berlin's Elem

Also based in Berlin, Mendelheit offers a very different aesthetic

Design overload...