Life in the home is changing. The distinctions between kitchen and living room and between bathroom and bedroom are becoming increasingly fluid. Factors such as lighting, textiles and accessories are becoming more significant in the new furnishing worlds. As a furnishings trade fair, Pure Village (hall 3.2) at imm cologne 2010 will impressively present these trend themes.
Pure Village is a new trade fair concept featuring a very different type of hall layout. At a traditional trade fair, the halls are laid out in a grid-like fashion, with each exhibitor allocated his own pitch, where he can then erect his stand. In Pure Village, however, things are different! Just like in a village, the roads are not parallel but rather lead to the centre, the village square, where there are lots to see and do.
In Pure Village, all the spaces feature a coordinated design. Although they are all similar, they are not identical and can vary in, for example, height and colour. All the spaces are ready-designed, thus giving exhibitors the freedom to concentrate purely on product presentation.
There is a range of options for exhibitors to personalize the stands. Walls can either be erected or left open and can be made of hard materials or fabric. imm cologne has created an exciting readymade environment in which exhibitors can immediately concentrate on presenting themselves and their products in the best possible light. In Pure Village, the emphasis lies on the presentation of reduced product lines and fascinating interior design concepts.
Recent years have brought radical changes in bathroom styles, with the once cold and functional “wet room” metamorphosing into a room in its own right. Following a general revaluation of the importance of private space and a growing need to square bodily and mental well-being with hectic, individualistic lifestyles, the bathroom has moved to the very heart of the home. In line with this trend, technological innovations and an aesthetic reinterpretation of the traditional four tiled walls have transformed the bathroom into a fully fledged part of the home — a room in which water is completely integrated as a design element, a room in which rituals are perhaps as important as they are at the dining table.
With less time remaining to enjoy the good things in life, that time becomes more and more valuable. In cooperation with design and industry, an architecture that meets modern requirements is now generating the kind of innovative room concepts that permit both: comfort for everyday routines and a space for well-being and regeneration. In terms of bathroom design, this presents a particular challenge, since here sophisticated technology must be united with the demand for a feel-good factor in a small space. Today, this demand is already being met in highly impressive ways — thanks, not least, to a combination of minimalist fittings, high-grade surfaces, discrete technical fixtures and, most of all, a top design that knows how to make the space communicate with the furnishings.This is also because boundaries have become fluid — not only between bathroom and bedroom furniture, but also between the bathroom and the bedroom themselves. When combined, they create an inner sanctum offering absolute privacy.
At the same time, this space is now subject to exactly the same demands for top-quality design as all the other rooms within the house. Yet whereas the latter are being opened to an ever wider circle of friends, and increasingly include not only a kitchen-living room but also a home office, this melting of the boundaries between bedroom and bathroom, this free and easy combination of living space and personal hygiene area, corresponds to an innermost need to focus on the essential things in life: caring for bodily well-being, a partner, creating a place for reflection, getting off to a good start in the morning, celebrating the evening rituals of relaxation.
All this needs the right environment, a room in which everything has its own place and its own aesthetics. In the same way that furniture design can no longer be reduced simply to product design, but has instead become an integral part of overall furnishing concepts, today’s bathroom design demands ideas that take into account the interplay between bathroom fittings and interior decoration, between water and home materials, and between wall design and lighting.
We believe that the time has come to present the bath in its true form: as a room in its own right, i.e. in the context of the different worlds and product ranges of interior design, side by side with high-quality furniture design.
Pure Village will provide a new and creative impulse for imm cologne. It creates a pleasant environment for exhibitors and an atmosphere in which trade fair visitors feel comfortable and receptive to new and inspiring trends — both as the guests of exhibitors and of Koelnmesse! Pure Village has been conceived and designed by Dick Spierenburg, who has been acting as creative consultant to imm cologne since February 2009. In addition to working as a product and interior designer, he has also experience in the creation and organization of exhibition concepts for international interior design brands in Amsterdam and Cologne.
02. November 2009
Categories: pure village, Trends
Tags: architects, bathroom, bathroom design, boundaries become fluid, concentration on presentation, design, designers, Dick Spierenburg, furniture design, Hall 3.2, imm cologne 2010, innovations, innovative room concepts, interior design, lifestyle, new and creative impulse, overall furnishing concepts, private spa, pure village, Trends, Video
