designbeans: February 2006 Archives

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| IMM Cologne 2006: the Fair (4)

February 21, 2006 _fairs

More from the fairground. Magis presented the new aluminium stool Deja-Vu designed by japanese star designer Naoto Fukasawa. New entry is also the Table_One that completes the famous seating system Chair_One designed by Konstantin Grcic.
Italian company Plank presented for the second time the Miura stool by Konstantin Grcic, awarded with the Interior Innovation Award Imm Cologne 2006 in the Best Item category. In the picture also the Paper chair designed by Raul Barbieri in bent wood. I believe Plank's colour palette expresses at best the latest trends: black, red, dark brown, orange and acid green.
Fasem presented a new chair that combines both modern and classic design styles, a trend launched by Marcel Wanders last april at Milano that is slowly spreading around.
La Palma featured the Cox chair designed by Ostwald and Nolting along the rest of their collection. Although italian presence in the fair was numerous (all previous mentioned companies are italian) it was evident that big news will be showcased at Milan's Salone del Mobile next april.
Thonet presented the S 333 sleigh designed by Holger Lange. Even if it was completely curious to me it seems that the company has a long history in producing sleighs.

Magis Table_One and Chair_One seating system

Naoto Fukasawa's new DeJa-Vu stool

Miura stool and Paper chair by Plank

Fasem's latest chair,

La Palma

Thonet

Posted by gp at 11:35 AM

| IMM Cologne 2006: the Fair (3)

February 16, 2006 _fairs

After only a few years we have got used to see in main design fairs new products realised with Rapid Manufacturing ... but only a couple of years ago this was absolutely rare. I love to see how these few (for the moment) companies based only in rapid prototyping technology are growing and keep proposing beautiful and innovative objects every time.
Jiri Evenhuis and Janne Kyttanen of Freedom of Creation were awarded with Innovation Award Cologne 2006 for their 1597 lamp designed by Janne Kytannen. But what I liked most was their new version of the V_bag (in the pics), which is platted in silver. If I had those 2000 euro I would have bought it in a second, but I guess I'll have to wait.
At Cologne I could also admire Materialise.MGX latest models along with the rest of the collection. Together with the company's best seller product, the Lily lamp there was the new lamp, a geometrically faceted oval available in green.

Freedom of Creation

Materialise.MGX

Posted by gp at 11:28 AM

|IMM Cologne 2006: the Fair (2)

February 15, 2006 _fairs

Normann Copenhagen featured the vacuum jag Magma designed by Francis Cayouette, the soft touch finish, the form and colours definitely appeal to the senses. The danish company presented the lamps Norm 69 and Norm 03 dismantled, so it was clear how the complex structures are generated by assembling small pieces of plastic, an interesting design puzzle that challenges the user and caught my attention.
Italian Cassina put up a very dark, misterious booth. Sorrounded by a jungle of black plastic tubes which left small space to acces the inside. The internal spaces had little light, mainly backlighted walls and featured the new collection which stands for its futuristic, soft shapes. I personally love the armchair Aucklaund and the sofa Aspen designed by Jean Marie Massaud.
Walter Knoll showed the huge seating system for the office Circle, made of four parts that create an unbroken flow that allows from sitting upright to lying in relaxation. Circle can be mounted in different configurations, longest one measures 4,5 mts.

Normann Copenhagen

Cassina

Knoll

Posted by gp at 10:25 AM

| IMM Cologne 2006: the Fair (1)

February 14, 2006 _fairs

Nature Rules.
It definitely rules this edition of Cologne's furniture fair. Nature inspires the shapes, the colours, the patterns and the materials of most products presented.
Some are very figurative, take Swedese's Tree Wall coat hunger by Michael Young and Katrin Petursdottir; the new flower decorated upholstery of the Bilbao lounge chair; the Flower coffee table by Christine Schwarzer or Nendo's Snow table and the latest Polar table with overlaping patterns. Another example is Bonaldo's new Tree coat hunger by Mario Mazzer.
In other cases Nature is the inspiration behind the applied patterns. Italian company Zanotta presented its collection in a flowery semi trasparent space created by perforated panels, showcasing the floral decorations of the Dora armchair designed by Ludovica and Roberto Palomba and the new upholstery for a modern classic and the Sacco easy chair designed back in 1968.
Vitra has also been struck by Nature, but in this case the result is a bit less obvious and much more refined. Jongerius's Polder assymetrical sofa which name refers to the tracts of land reclaimed from the sea in Holland is decorated with large buttons made of natural materials like horn, bamboo and mother of pearl and the mushroom shaped pouf Bovist is enriched with various motifs.

Swedese

Bonaldo's Tree coat hunger

Inside Norway

Zanotta

Vitra

Posted by gp at 2:52 PM