Design News: USA Exhibitors at IMM Cologne – Whether for the furnishing of hotels, offices or shops: many exhibitors of imm cologne 2016 are specialists in the property business. For projects in the USA they combine their know-how with American lifestyle.
From a European perspective, the USA sometimes feels like a second home: films, music or fashion – American lifestyle is evident in many areas and influences our own lifestyle. Conversely, a trip to America sometimes feels as if one hasn’t even left Europe at all. The design of European manufacturers can be found in many places, starting with the hotel lobby and extending through the popular shops on the shopping boulevard to the restaurant around the corner.
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For the equipping of architecture and interior projects, the USA in fact appears from a European perspective to be a land of (nearly) unlimited possibilities. The economic strength of America and the willingness to try out new things create the best preconditions for ambitious design. The pulsing architecture and design scene overseas also creates a diversely creative environment for new ideas and concepts. It is thus no surprise that many European manufacturers maintain outlets or showrooms in the United States and are involved in the furnishing of many current projects.
The design of exhibitors of imm cologne is found at many prominent locations in the USA. On Broadway in New York, this includes Spanish furniture from Kettal, which combines European feeling for form with American nonchalance. Club chairs and lounge furniture of the design label from Barcelona contribute to the trendy flair of the Hyatt Times Square Hotel. They make an especially good impression on the rooftop patio with a marvelous view of the famous skyline. Examples of European living culture also shine in other current New York projects. For example, kitchens of the Italian manufacturer Molteni provide an atmosphere of elegant understatement in the residential tower developed by Foster+Partners at 551 West 21st Street.
The Saxony Faena House in Miami was also designed by the British star architect Sir Norman Foster. The exclusive apartments in the dynamically curved residential tower also offer their affluent residents Molteni kitchens, and a view of the neighbouring Saxony Faena Hotel from the 1940s. Its interior is to be restored to its old shine with designs by the Australian film director Baz Luhrmann. The spirit of past eras also seems to have influenced the furnishing of Sophie’s Restaurant in Chicago. Furniture from Ligne Roset and Poltrona Frau underline the subtle noblesse of the restaurant at Saks Fifth Avenue. The atmosphere of the elegant 1950s is suggested as a tribute to the American fashion designer Sophie Gimbel: with curtains, wood, crystal glass and the high quality furniture, the architect Andre Kikoski from Manhattan enhanced the nostalgic charm of the restaurant.
For more information visit John Robert Wiltgen Design’s Website.
American style, Italian fashion and Japanese creativity are united in the store of Franco Sarto Calzature in San Francisco. In addition to shoes and handbags, the furniture of the ZA system from Lapalma also serve as eye-catchers in the outlet of the fashion label there. The furniture system designed by the Japanese Shin and Tomoko Azumi can be flexibly combined into ever new forms with curved and straight elements. A completely different eye-catcher is the luxury vessel “Journey” of the Miami-based shipping company Azamara Cruise Lines. The medium-sized vessel has its own restaurants, bars, a casino and a cabaret lounge for exclusive cruises, as well as loungers and chairs of the Spanish manufacturer Kettal on the sundeck.
Also business as usual is the equipping of American office buildings with furniture from European manufacturers. The Grind coworking space offers freelancers in Chicago and New York a new work world and community. Members should profit from working together, and from the stimulating interior with alcove sofas from Vitra. Products of the Swiss furniture manufacturer are also found in, among other places, the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM). At its locations in San Diego, Irvine, Los Angeles and San Francisco, Vitra furniture underlines its creative ambition as a design school. European design was also turned to for the New Yorker Open Society Foundation’s Argonaut Building: thanks to the Lotus office chairs from Cappellini, each conference room not only meets expectations for comfortable work, but also the highest design standards.
A current example of the Dutch manufacturer Soonalon playfully shows how American tradition and lifestyle conversely inspires European design. At imm cologne 2016, the exhibitor will present, among other things, its “Catching the wild” coat rack – a lasso as a minimalist clothes catcher.
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Source: IMM Cologne
