More than 10,000 people participated in the 1st Art Design Village, one of the main addresses of São Paulo Design Weekend 2015 at the Jockey Club. As part of the program, the Furniture Industry Association of Bento Gonçalves (Sindmóveis) held the first exhibition of the Salão Design award in São Paulo, the exhibition Projeto Raiz – aimed at the international promotion of designers’ service - a special Buyer’s Project  and the International Seminar "The form follows the material" featuring Italian Clino Trini Castelli, Chilean Cristian Domínguez and Brazilian Brunno Jahara.

"These initiatives will increase the visibility of the furniture industry of Bento Gonçalves. A significant number of architects, designers and entrepreneurs circulated around São Paulo during DW ! - highly skilled and qualified attendees. That is exactly what we need to further disseminate our work. Salão Design was also very successful, visited by professionals who commented favorably about the award. We can only benefit from  this," says the president of Sindmóveis Bento Gonçalves, Henrique Tecchio. The award, sponsored by the organization since 1988, encourages creativity, entrepreneurship and technological innovation of furniture and accessories through design.

The actions were boosted by transferring Casa Brasil to São Paulo which will be held annually as of next year. An initiative promoted by the association since 2007, the high end furniture and decoration fair was held four times in Serra Gaúcha, bringing together big names in the segments of furniture, lighting, decor and accessories. In 2016, it will be the anchor event of DW! and High Design - Home & Office Expo, launched at the Design Weekend this year aiming to become the leading international furniture design event in Brazil. To facilitate this evolution, Sindmóveis joined the English Informa Group, one of the main organizers of fairs, conferences and training courses around the world, and Summit Promo, the company that devised DW!.

Altogether, approximately 30 initiatives were developed including lectures and events from August 12-16 at the Jockey Club São Paulo, during the 1st Art Design Village.