imm cologne news

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.

The average German only replaces his sofa with a new one every 8-12 years. Don’t you sometimes wish there was a scrapping incentive for furniture too?
We in the furniture industry aren’t calling for subsidies – we just want equal treatment for all sectors. Instead of getting people to scrap their cars, the politicians ought to be scrapping taxes for normal citizens and SMEs so they’ve got more money left in their pockets and budgets at the end of the month – money they can use however they see fit.

The imm cologne’s Trendboard is anticipating a return to more quality consciousness as a response to the economic crisis. Is “real” quality actually still affordable these days?
We’re living in a time when people are refraining from quick consumption again so yes, you could say people have started to change their mentality. They’re becoming more sensitive to how we use the world’s resources and looking for things that promise value and durability again. That’s why there’s an increasing demand for sustainability and value in our industry too. For earlier generations it was normal not to follow every furniture or clothing fashion or go along with every new style that came out. Then there was a period of rapid and changing consumption. The pleasure was often short-lived and the products interchangeable.

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Hans Strothoff, President of the Federal Association of Kitchen, Furniture & Furnishing Retailers (BVDM)

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me begin with a few remarks about the concept presented by Mr. Böse. I am delighted that we now have a blueprint that will ensure the continuing presence of a major international furniture trade fair in Germany. The establishment of one’s own kitchen trade fair, which is held every two years, in parallel to the imm cologne – that is really the only way to go. Here, it is important that fitted units, sinks and fittings are also represented, because these items are inextricably linked to the kitchen and constitute an essential part of the added value of a kitchen. From the perspective of both the dealer and the customer, it is absolutely essential that they should be presented alongside kitchen furniture.

It is my firm belief that the kitchen sector will be strongly represented in Cologne in 2011, more strongly than has been the case for many years. Following my discussions with manufacturers, I am confident that around 90 per cent of German production volume will be represented in Cologne. All of these discussions were very rewarding, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the companies involved for the open and constructive atmosphere in which these talks took place. They were also marked by a pronounced sense of responsibility for the sector as a whole.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is especially the dealers – and, by that, I mean German trade dealers of kitchen and interior fittings – who need a strong trade fair. And they need one here in Germany. A trade fair at home provides important signals and new stimulus for domestic consumption. A good example of this is Frankfurt’s International Motor Show, the IAA. Despite its very poor sales figures, the automobile industry is enjoying a huge media presence right now. By increasing access to our trade fair for the end consumer – through three open days for the public – we will guarantee a much greater media interest. And this interest will also be boosted by the various supporting programmes.

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What are the key trends influencing furniture design this year? We asked designers, manufacturers, retailers and journalists for their assessments and observations.

Arik Lévy, Designer, Paris:

This last one was an interesting period for us all. Many things have changed in people’s eyes, minds and in their way of thinking. For me personally – and confirmed by the fair and some of the products shown – trends are or can become a tool – a tool to use and to understand what we see. Trends change so fast that maybe it is not the trend itself that is important but the way and reasons it changes.

I think the current trend is and will be to get ones identity back, to be honest and to be devoted to ones original ideas. Believe in what you do and concentrate your vision towards the future, towards quality and efficiency, outstanding solutions to real every day problems from the end user to the supply chain, delivery and storage.

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Five months before the next event all indications are pointing to a successful imm cologne 2010. The current registration status looks good despite the difficult situation in the industry. “We are currently assuming that we will again have around 1,000 exhibitors from over 45 countries. It’s time to think ahead, and for me that means stating my commitment to the leading trade fair. Germany needs a strong leading trade fair and that is imm cologne,” says Gerald Böse, CEO of Koelnmesse.

In the coming years imm cologne is set to be Europe’s most cutting-edge furnishings and interior design trade fair. By fulfilling all market-oriented criteria, it is offering optimum prerequisites for business and networking on the international scale. In the modern design area – halls 10, 11 and 3 – visitors will be presented with a show of ideas for global design developments in a compact form. Over 300 companies will have stands there, including such brands as COR, interlübke, Ligne Roset, Walter Knoll, Domaniecki, de Sede, Kettnaker, Fraubrunnen, girsberger, Team 7, Riva, and Gervasoni, all with strong emotional appeal. “We are firmly convinced that in the coming weeks additional registrations will come from renowned companies, particularly from Italy,” says Udo Traeger, Head of the Furniture, Interior Design and Textiles division at Koelnmesse.

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The print our feet leave on our planet should be as light as possible – that is the aim of Green Design. Product designers are no longer content with making a purely aesthetic mark. Instead, with unconventional ideas and sustainable product concepts, they are committed to making our lifestyle more compatible with the environment.

Green Design is the dream of “good” design, of things that don’t hurt anybody – not nature, who the material is taken from and is left to deal with the remains, not the planet, who the energy is extracted from and whose atmosphere it is emitted into, nor the people who make or use the object.

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On its way to becoming a holistic furnishings and interior design trade fair, imm cologne will continue its decisive development in the coming year – from a display of products to a forum at which the design worlds of tomorrow are displayed.

The framework for this development will be the new sequence of days from Tuesday, 19 January to Sunday, 24 January 2010 and the changed opening hours of 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. The public days will remain Saturday and Sunday.

“imm cologne as a trade fair is subject to constant change and must reflect changes in the market – both from the point of view of offerings and in the manner of its presentation. We want to show visitors that in Cologne you can experience business anew”, says Udo Traeger, head of the Furniture, Interior Design and Textiles division at Koelnmesse.

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“A new spirit predominates among young designers”, recently reported Swedish architect Eero Koivisto with satisfaction during a presentation on the imm trendbook 2009. “They no longer dream of designing glorious star objects, but are concerned with the thing itself. They often work in teams and strive to create objects of lasting value.” Anyone who wants to get a sense of this spirit of optimism should come to imm cologne in the period between 19 and 25 January, 2009.

In Hall 3.1, a whole floor is dedicated to young creative individuals under the name [d³] design talents. Visionaries and newcomers will introduce themselves and their designs in three areas: [d³] contest, [d³] professionals and [d³] schools.

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Each year, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) determines which leading trade fairs can be supported through involvement in shared stands. The aim of this promotion programme is to support young entrepreneurs in the marketing of innovative products.

Through this, the BMWi aims to strengthen both Germany as a centre of innovation and the export of new products and processes. For 2009, imm cologne, which will take place from 19 to 25 January 2009, has been included in the promotion programme alongside other leading Koelnmesse trade fairs.

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„Encourage, enable, empower“ – this is the motto of the first DesignCamp in Europe. The DesignCamp Cologne will be held at imm cologne 2009 (international furnishing show) and is organized by a team of volunteers. The international event is free of charge for participating designers who are welcome to come to Cologne at the weekend of January 24th and 25th, 2009 to present their visionary, creative and innovative design ideas.

„Let a thousand flowers bloom“ – diversity of topics and participants foster a creative ecosphere
“User-generated“ sessions help the participants of the DesignCamp Cologne to exchange new ideas and concepts, to get informed about the latest trends, to get inspired and to present their own projects.

To transcend barriers, the DesignCamp Cologne is open for all disciplines of design. Architects, web designer, interior designer, product designer, 3D designer, industrial designer, photo designer, graphic designer and multimedia designer – everybody is welcome and encouraged to present his session and his favorite topic. In this creative ecosphere new interdisciplinary ideas can evolve and lead to unique concepts and solutions never seen before.

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