F Words by Sue Fenton
Published in Furnishing magazine
Amidst a great deal of ‘colonial’ and ‘ethnic’ style furniture, notable mainly for its similarity to other suppliers’ offerings, there were some eye-catching contemporary items at the annual Tendence Lifestyle show in Frankfurt in August, reports Susan Fenton.
Luckily for those seeking contemporary furniture, there was a special section devoted to his category, in the Interior Design section.
If there was a single identifiable trend it was probably ‘texture’, which showed up strongly in much of the new items on show, but even then there was a wide range of different textures, thanks to the many and varied mediums used. New products included leather, plastic, fibreglass, wood and metal.
Notable were the spangly fibreglass chairs from Finn Stone, red leather chaise longue from Italy’s Hi-Tek, a cunning chair disguised as a coat hanger from Germany’s Details and an unusual office stool from German supplier Aeris, which bounces up and down, and sideways, as the user moves about. And fellow German Muller [umlaut on u] Mobel [umlaut on o]‘s multifunctional Mobil line, made of 3cm lacquered sheet steel, can be used either as a table-cum-dresser or as a bench – in other words you can put things or people on it.
It was easy to avoid the more traditional furniture, as it had its home in separate Country Home and Bel Etage sections. But if you did stray into these areas, even here it was possible to find pieces that went beyond the conventional. For instance, massive hand-carved pieces from Hungary’s Art-Holz, which are individually made to order from a native tree.
Many of the suppliers had taken the ‘lifestyle’ route to presentation, offering not only furniture but also the accessories that go with it, ranging from rugs to bed linen to waste bins.
If there is no single clear trend, is there agreement as to what constitutes ‘contemporary’ furniture? The single word mentioned by most suppliers was ‘function’ – perhaps an obvious word to use in the context of furniture, but the idea is that while making products fundamentally useful, designers can explore forms that go beyond the conventional.
Finn Stone talks of a ‘vigorous greed for innovation in material and shape, and explosive colour combinations‘, with a belief that function can be achieved in even ‘weird and wonderful forms‘.
There is a very different answer from Germany’s Aeris, which says the purpose of contemporary furniture is to hone functionality to the extent that it improves the wellbeing of the user. ‘Our goal is to create an intellectual working environment which also allows people to be mobile – as nature intended. In order to be productive and at the same time enjoy a sense of well being, your body needs the freedom of natural mobility.’
Fellow German Accente also uses function to create fashion – its new Loft sofa collection contains 20 seating ‘elements’ ranging in size from 120 cm to 220 cm, which the customer combines to make their own ‘lounging place‘.
Sales and marketing manager Francois Benner said: ‘The living room will become more and more a private place, to read a book or look watch a film, while guests are now received in the dining room. So the style of contemporary furniture has to be classical and timeless, with comfort and design playing a major role in interior decoration.’
ENDS
1
The sculptural Amorphic Chairs from UK designer Finn Stone are said to be moulded along the same lines as the human body. Stone regards plastic as the ideal medium for furniture design because of the way it can be moulded into sculptural shapes and because the pieces can be used in the garden or indoors.
www.finnstone.com
2
The Swopper from Aeris is a stool (described as ‘a permanently moving chair’) that moves both up and down and sideways as the user moves about. It aims to put the spine into an upright position, in order to relieve tension, low back pain and fatigue. Available in the UK in several colours, though Furniture Craft International.
www.swopper.de
3 [high-res image already emailed]
Details of Germany offers this chair with integral coat hanger as a back, and a seat that lifts up, leaving room to store tie, wallet, watch and other small items needed for work the next day.
www.details-produkte.de
4
Art-Holz of Hungary’s massive chunky hand-carved pieces are made from Topolya wood, found in central Europe. The furniture is made to order – usually from a single piece of wood – to customer’s measurements.
www.artholz.hu
5
These stacking tables and modular cubes come from Netherlands-based Room Interior Products, which claims to offer a ‘fusion of eras’ by mixing classic styles with more recent forms to create ‘products that are as functional as they are innovative’.
www.roominteriorproducts.com
6
The orange plastic chair is among the new products from Kare Design of Germany, which supplies a range of contemporary furnishing and homewares products.
www.kare-design.de
7 [hi-res image already emailed].
Vipp Designs of Denmark, which started out supplying waste bins to doctors’ and dentists’ surgeries, has evolved into a supplier of ‘designer’ items to, among others, designer furniture stores.
www.vipp.dk
8
Accente of Germany specialises in mixing materials, such as fabric upholstery with wool and rattan with leather or wood, in a style that it calls ‘classical and timeless‘. This style, said to be a continuation of the last two years’ fashions, is depicted in this chair from the current collection.
www.accente-loom.de
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