imm cologne Set to Take Place This January
Furniture World News Desk on
11/29/2021
Koelnmesse, the organizer for imm cologne, recently announced that the imm cologne trade fair is set to take place this January 17-23. 600 exhibitors are set to show at the trade fair, with a split of 25% domestic and 75% international companies.
Koelnmesse has been in operation since September 21 with various trade shows. The organizer has used the pandemic to develop a sophisticated hygiene and safety concept – no touch points, everything electronic via cell phone technology - attendees and exhibitors have to be either tested, vaccinated or recovered. With the pandemic also propelling the way contacts can be made online, Koelnmesse has set up imm Cologne 365, which helps users to network, share experiences, product presentations and more.
Das Apartment HAUS at imm cologne 2022
Das Apartment HAUS at imm cologne 2021, originally meant to be a celebration for all design fans and the latest highlight of one of the most renowned design events in the interiors sector, had to be cancelled due to the corona virus. “Implementing it solely for an online presentation didn’t come into question – if only because Das Apartment HAUS is a format that you have to be able to walk around and experience with all your senses,” explains Dick Spierenburg, creative director of imm cologne. As a result, last autumn, the design teams and Koelnmesse agreed to postpone the event. “But now we’re all the more delighted that we can celebrate our return to the analogue trade show stage with a genuine design highlight. And where we are offering links with the digital space, it’s no longer an emergency solution, it’s an extra with added value,” promises Spierenburg.
This January, Das Apartment HAUS will present itself to a broad audience at imm cologne, the first major interiors fair of 2022. Visitors can look forward to two totally different, self-contained visions of new ways of living, connected via an open and multifaceted co-living area. All three design studios are using Das Apartment HAUS as a stage for presenting the new products they have developed together with brands like Thonet, Wittmann, Leolux, Rakumba, Schönbuch, Rolf Benz, Gandia Blasco, Ethimo, Wendelbo, Lodes, Arflex, La Manufacture and many others in an original setting that shows them in a very personal context.
Much of the furniture originally designed to debut at imm cologne 2021 has meanwhile moved beyond the prototype stage and gone into full-scale production. But in Sebastian Herkner’s eyes, it’s new all the same: “It’s still new now, at imm cologne. Yes, there have been previews here and there, but they were often pilot lots. The proper presentation is definitely in Cologne. It will be the first time many of the products are really visible – but that goes for all of us! Over the last 15 months, a lot of products have been presented in purely digital form, but you could never experience them physically. And at the end of the day, design is all about sensory experiences.”
With the 10th edition, the Das Haus event format is moving to the Pure Atmospheres hall (Hall 11.2). And the concept behind the format is getting an update too: in future it will be broader-based in order to permit a stronger focus on topics that reflect current developments.
To shape the transformation process, imm cologne has invited three creative teams who already know Das Haus like their own living room: as the Das Haus designers of 2013, 2016 and 2019, Luca Nichetto, Sebastian Herkner and Kate & Joel Booy (StudioTruly Truly) created interiors that opened the home up to nature and the outside world or defined it as multifunctional space that reflects moods – for socialising or retreat, sometimes sensuous, sometimes minimalist, with walls made of plants or curtains, linear or round. Every one of them created an impressive experience of visionary living space with a very personal charisma.
In 2022, the experimental platform for interior design is thus addressing an issue that will shape the future and is having an increasing impact on urban development: long and short stay apartments. They represent a new category for the interiors business. At the same time, it’s important to remember that executives, experts, digital nomads, commuters, career starters and students have very different requirements when it comes to managed urban living concepts. Long and short stay apartments are usually rented fully furnished. But the new apartment houses also offer co-living options, which combine private quarters with jointly used spaces for hospitality, sport and work.
Six interior design trends for imm cologne 2022
With the home office and outdoor living more important than ever, the demand for more rooms per dwelling has increased, but so has the desire for things that add a touch of quality to our everyday lives, without adding complications. Simple, good quality, beautiful pieces of furniture that embody the ideal of a sustainable lifestyle. Designers and the industry are looking for ways to meet these constantly changing needs with attractive furniture and progressive interior design concepts.
The Interior Business Event imm cologne not only demonstrates the inventiveness of furniture makers – it is also a reflection of current interiors trends. In January 2022, the interior design concepts for the 2022 furniture season will – at long last – be set out. The following six trends are key to the developments in home living and the new products and solutions that will be on display.
The way we live is important to us. An ever-increasing number of people are thinking about how they can make their lives and their homes more sustainable and considering where they should live, who they should live with, what the way their homes are furnished says about them and how their homes need to look for them to feel comfortable. Different areas of life are overlapping, and this is being echoed in interior design. imm cologne 2022 will set out six interior trends that are key in interior design and the way we use our homes:
- Trend 1: For Seasons
The For Seasons trend reflects the increasing interest in colour and decoration. Decoration has become an integral part of interior design. Home living is a topic close to our hearts and one we share on social media. As an expression of personality, the home no longer paints a rigid picture but is becoming a continuous process instead. This process isn't just influenced by trends, though; it's directly affected by what’s happening in the nature surrounding us and the rhythm of the seasons, with furniture acting as a canvas for changing styles.
- Trend 2: Connected Living
When connected living is vital, the smart home becomes part of everyday life. The Connected Living trend brings together the wide range of options for digital connections in our homes, where connected furniture and smart technologies are increasingly becoming par for the course. Bringing the world into our home is a top trend and a growth market.
- Trend 3: Multifunctional
The Multifunctional trend is rooted in the need to get more (comfort and flexibility) out of the minimum (space) – and make it look like less. An uncluttered look is the main thing. Urbanisation and rising housing prices call for small-footprint solutions for singles and families with multifunctional features: home office systems, small furniture, smart solutions with connected living features, and intelligent designs made possible by innovative fittings technology and modern storage are answers to this trend.
- Trend 4: Blurring Boundaries
The Blurring Boundaries trend corresponds to the desire for boundary-free living, leading to a blurring of the physical and stylistic lines between indoors and outdoors, (semi-)public and private, living and cooking, living and dining, living and working, living space and bathroom. The trend describes how the boundaries between living and cooking, living and working, personal hygiene and bathing, exercising, and so on, are merging. With open-plan spaces and a sense of transparency between indoors and outdoors, stand-alone furniture and systems are increasingly being used to create zones and even replace walls.
- Trend 5: Sharing Spaces
The urban lifestyle, remote working and flexible working models are demanding more flexibility and logistical convenience. The Sharing Spaces trend has resulted in a variety of models for a temporary home from home with social connections and aesthetic appeal. Co-living concepts create additional housing for highly mobile people who are accustomed to a lifestyle in which living and working overlap. It’s for them that the real estate industry and interiors sector are developing new models for “furnished accommodation”.
- Trend 6: Natural Luxury
The Natural Luxury trend expresses a conviction that has been growing in recent years – that quality is the real luxury. Traditional craftsmanship, simplicity, premium materials, soft-edge design – these are the signals that point to “pure” luxury – pure because it’s natural, defined by a focus on what really matters and the willingness to renounce mass consumption in favour of sustainable product concepts.
imm cologne runs January. 17-23, 2022 (Mon- Sun) at the Koelnmesse Fairground. itcket prices range from EURO 66 Day Ticket to EURO 115 all days. For more information, visit www.imm-cologne.com.
About Koelnmesse
Koelnmesse is the world’s top trade fair organizer for the areas of furnishing, living and lifestyle. At the trade fair hub of Cologne, the leading international fair imm cologne as well as the trade fair formats of LivingKitchen, ORGATEC, spoga+gafa, interzum and Kind + Jugend rank among the internationally renowned and established industry meeting places. These fairs comprehensively represent the upholstered and case furniture segment, the kitchen industry, the office furniture sector and outdoor living as well as the innovations of the furniture supply industry. Over the last few years, Koelnmesse has specifically added international fairs in the most important fast-expanding markets to its portfolio. These include idd Shanghai, interzum bogotá in Bogotá, interzum guangzhou in Guangzhou, Kind + Jugend ASEAN in Bangkok, ORGATEC TOKYO in Tokyo and Pueri Expo in São Paulo. With ambista, the online portal for the interiors business, Koelnmesse offers direct access to products, contacts, expertise and events relevant to the industry all year round.
Further information: www.koelnmesse.com/current-dates/all-trade-fairs/#2
Further information about ambista: www.ambista.com