quality | imm cologne

Walter Knoll’s secret of success: Looking with designers for something that has never been done before

MYchair; Design: Ben van Berkel; Foto: Walter Knoll Walter Knoll (exhibitor at imm cologne 2010, 19.-24.01.2010), one of Germany’s oldest manufacturers of upholstered furniture, cultivates a close partnership with designers and architects – an approach that is key to the company’s success. “New products evolve out of thorough communication, immersing yourself in processes and clarifying ideas. We seek out gaps together, looking for the right opening for something that has never been done before,” says CEO Markus Benz.

Benz, head of the Herrenberg-based company since 1993, sets great store by communication. It is a recurring theme that is also reflected in the company’s products. Take the Ameo lounge chairs by Austrian design team EOOS, for instance: they are ideal for relaxing with friends and putting the world to rights. The island-like swivel chairs can be turned to face one another for a conversation or away from the crowd for a moment of reflection, open to new perspectives. Or Living Landscape – another EOOS design. The sides and back turn with the seat and change their position.

Dirk-Uwe Klaas, Association of the German Furniture Industry, on consumers’ changing mentality

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.

Studio Vertijet, Kirsten Antje Hoppert and Steffen Kroll: “‘Cosiness’ is a paraphrase for the human aspects of interior design.”

1studio_vertijet Interior designer Kirsten Antje Hoppert and product designer Steffen Kroll have been in business as Studio Vertijet since 1998. Both studied at Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design in Halle. They define the spectrum of their work as ranging from dessert spoons all the way to architecture.

It was their shared ideals and their enthusiasm for “beautiful things with an equally high functional value” that brought them together in the present constellation. “If our products manage to sensitise people, we would have achieved one of our ideals …” they say. This conviction and passion serve as the starting point for their ideas. “Dreaming” and “fanciful ideas of life” are an important part of the product development process – a method they like to describe as “planned intuition”.

According to the duo‘s philosophy, mankind is heading for the ground again – but this time with a few layers of padding between us and the carpet. Those in search of relaxation, say Kirsten Antje Hoppert and Steffen Kroll, cannot expect a solution to their problems either from comfortable office chairs or classic sofas – the fundamental ergonomics of the sitting positions are the same.

We stand up from sitting down, only to go and sit down again. In an attempt to get us moving, Cor‘s “Lava” model therefore introduces new ergonomics for recumbent positions – the first sofa on the planet not primarily intended for sitting on. Kirsten Antje Hoppert and Steffen Kroll live and work together in Halle/Saale, Germany.

Arik Lévy and this year’s furniture trends: “Trends can become a tool – a tool to use and to understand what we see”

arik_levy 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.

Oliver Holy on this year’s furniture trends: “Quiet quality instead of loud luxury.”

oliver_holy1 What are the key trends influencing furniture design this year? We asked designers, manufacturers, retailers and journalists for their assessments and observations.

Oliver Holy, CEO ClassiCon, München:
At the fair I regularly came across the new term “Homing”. Even if I’m reluctant to label any change in public desires right away I do understand what this one tries to register. I, too, believe that the uncertainty caused by the current economic and ecologic developments evokes a desire for concentrating on basics. With regard to interiors and materials this means to me that furniture which is natural, “grounded” and can even develop patina is favored and that loud and flashy styles become replaced by haptically pleasant forms and materials. I see this confirmed by the enthusiasm with which Sergio Rodrigues collection has been received.

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imm cologne

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Walter Knoll’s secret of success: Looking with designers for something that has never been done before

Dirk-Uwe Klaas, Association of the German Furniture Industry, on consumers’ changing mentality

Studio Vertijet, Kirsten Antje Hoppert and Steffen Kroll: “‘Cosiness’ is a paraphrase for the human aspects of interior design.”

Arik Lévy and this year’s furniture trends: “Trends can become a tool – a tool to use and to understand what we see”

Oliver Holy on this year’s furniture trends: “Quiet quality instead of loud luxury.”

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