I’ve written about [D3] Design Talents at IMM Cologne, but what about the rest of the show? It is absolutely vast, with 11 halls, some of which are on three floors, so these really are the edited highlights. Check out Modenus for reports from my fellow BlogTourCGN bloggers.
Our exploration began with a very warm welcome from the BlogTourCGN sponsors, starting with Blanco. Being a bit of a type fan, I loved this huge Blanco sign, which, although you can’t quite see it in this image, was behind a waterfall!
Blanco were showcasing the Modex sink. Being a Cornish lass, I love a bit of granite, but this is unlike any granite I’ve seen before. It’s actually a granite composite and it’s in a beautiful new grey-brown colour Blanco are calling ‘cinder’. I love the way it’s designed so you can wash and chop veggies in one place and all the water will drain off.
Next up was a presentation from Miele and excitingly from Dr Miele himself. I love Miele’s motto: ‘Immer Besser’ which translates as ‘Forever Better.’ This translates into a products that make people’s lives better, and a commitment to quality, longevity and environmental responsibility.
And the final visit was to meet the very charming Philippe Grohe, part of the family-run Hansgrohe, and to be introduced to the Axor Starck Organic range, designed by Philippe Starck. I am very excited to say that I will have an interview with Mr Starck on the blog tomorrow, so you can find out all about this fabulous ‘faucet’ then!
Having said hello to our sponsors, it was time to explore the rest of the show…
I loved the pop of colour that WILDE + SPIETH brought to the show with the CU! Chair designed by Avinash Shende. They can be used indoors, but I think my gloomy winter garden would love them.
I was excited to discover ex.t, a brand that pride themselves on finding new designers, and then hand-crafting selected projects in their small Tuscan family-run factory. They were even showing work from designers they’d met at last year’s IMM.
I love, love, love this little lamp from Pulpo. I love the midcentury vibe, I love the yellow, I love the holes, I love the glass, I love the wood… I love it!
This might be my nerdy side coming out just a little bit, but I also really loved this office furniture from Schellmann – the contrast of utilitarian design, metal and grey with bright and bang on-trend yellow and orange is just perfect!
More very cool office furniture (okay, I’m really earning my geek stripes this morning, aren’t I?!) this time from ST16 – I love the combination of grey or wood shelving with neon corner fixtures.
Now this is cool. Supergrau provide their Kloezze System furniture as boxes of six pieces of pine, oak and cherry blocks and two elastic bands in yellow or blue – and the rest is up to you. You might make a stool like this one, or perhaps a coffee table; a bench or an abstract sculpture – now that’s self assembly!
Another beautifully simple design in the Thread Family – by Berlin and Shanghai-based Coordination. A walnut thread and seat simply screws into a welded steel base. The bases were inspired by high quality bicycle frames – and I love the colour range Coordination has chosen.
I’m not normally a KBB (kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms for the uninitiated!) kinda gal, but this Vision Hidden Kitchen by Warendorf really caught my eye. Not only is it a pretty gorgeous kitchen, but at the flick of a switch, it entirely disappears behind a rust-lacquered feature wall. Perfect for a small or mixed use space.
I also loved this little Sphere table by Hella Jongerius for Vitra. It’s the perfect solution for open plan working, with space to be social and space to get your head down and focus. I need one of these!
Zascho Petkow has come up with a rather clever solution to hallway clutter… rather than hiding your shoes, handbags, coats and keys away, why not put them all on display?
Finally, I really enjoyed the series of installations across the exhibition, my favourite of which was the wood turning installation for Boewer.
Further reading for the especially geeky:
- out and about :: blogtour cologne
- out and about :: [d3] design talents at imm cologne
- out and about :: home london 2013
I missed that lamp from Pulpo. It’s amazing!! Good spot. Really looking forward to reading your Philippe Starck interview!
I found the ex.t booth too, and fell in love with that sink/ washstand that you see on the right. You definitely found some cool and colorful stuff. I love seeing the event through your eyes!
It’s so funny how we were at the same place and all saw different things! Fab roundup Katie!
Great write up Katie! I love the pulpo lamp and I could have used a lot of your photos for my own write up of IMM which focused on the colour yellow. There was so much to see, so it’s great that I can see everything I missed at other blogs. At the Dutch furniture show in Amsterdam there was also a kitchen you could hide…if I see one more I can consider it a trend right? 😉