imm cologne news

The talent forum [D3] Design talents shows which way the wind is blowing. At the imm cologne, young designers get the chance to present their original product ideas alongside the established stars of the furniture industry.

Design lives from a constant stream of new ideas. And sometimes from the reinvention of old ones. What’s crucial is a constant change of perspectives that questions what has already been achieved, penetrates beyond established aesthetics and ventures to suggest new approaches. Experimental design thus fulfils an important function for the entire discipline – by ensuring continuous input.

Weiterlesen…

interior innovation award, 2009: Best System, SH05 ARIE by Arik Levy, photo: e15

A joint project between imm cologne and the German Design Council, the eighth interior innovation award will be presented in 2010. This much sought-after award underlines the importance of innovation for imm cologne.

A jury of leading international design experts will award the prize for the most outstanding innovations in five categories: Best Item, Best System, Best Detail, Materials Innovation and Classic Innovation.

All businesses exhibiting at the fair are eligible to take part, either with products already on the market or those that are being exhibited for the first time.

The interior innovation award will be presented during the opening party on the night before the fair starts.

Cecilie Manz, Marcus Fairs, Johanna Grawunder, Giulio Ridolfo and Bertjan Pot (f.l.t.r.) Photo: Koelnmesse; Lutz Sternstein

Every summer, five or six renowned designers get together in the tower block of Cologne exhibition centre for an unusual workshop that culminates in a prognosis of the most important developments in interior design: the Trend Book with the interior trends of the coming year. Every year, the Trendboard convened by the imm cologne brings together product designers, architects, material specialists and journalists who are regarded as internationally acknowledged authorities on design and are successful at international level. The Trendboard line-up changes every year and represents several nationalities and disciplines.

This year, materials specialist Giulio Ridolfo and journalist Marcus Fairs ensure the desired continuity. Giulio Ridolfo, a designer and textile consultant from Italy’s creative stronghold Udine, made a name for himself with his unusual works for the likes of Patricia Urquiola.

London author Marcus Fairs’ reputation is founded on his online magazine dezeen. New impulses came from American architect and interior designer Johanna Grawunder, whose work in the field of product design includes exclusive and colourful limited editions, and Cecilie Manz, a young and successful designer from Denmark with an excellent instinct for materials and colours. Dutch designer Bertjan Pot, the third new face on this year’s Trendboard, is also part of the young, successful generation of designers that is currently accelerating the pace of change in the design scene.

As in previous years, the Trendboard was accompanied by Andrej Kupetz, managing director of the Frankfurt-based German Design Council since 1999.

Weiterlesen…

A total of 1,057 companies from 49 countries are taking part in this year’s imm cologne, exhibiting the latest trends in the world of international furnishings including a multitude of new and potentially best-selling products. The “interior innovation award cologne”, which is a regular feature at imm cologne, honours the most outstanding innovations.

Our partner and organiser of this competition is the “Rat für Formgebung” (German Design Council), the German competence centre for design, which confers such prizes as the German Design Award. This year, about 250 companies submitted their innovations to compete for the interior innovation award. A jury of international experts chose the winners at the imm cologne.

Weiterlesen…