HBL Tradeshows: Live from Stockholm Furniture Fair

Tube Me by Elinor Anna Malin Ericsson at Stockholm Furniture Fair 2011

WGSN reports live from Stockholm Furniture Fair,  presenting the three key trends to emerge so far at the annual event:

1. Greenery

Pots and planters incorporated into furniture signalled an attempt to bring nature indoors and improve air quality (read our recent trend report on this). Low tables with individual spaces for pots and wall mounted displays resembling a TV bursting with foliage were the highlights.

2. Frames with loose upholstery

Simple frames with loose cushions or covers woven, draped, stuffed or piled into them provided an interesting take on casual comfort. In many cases the upholstery could be removed and reformed in new ways. These pieces represent casual style taken to the next level of slouchy flexibility.

3. Brass detailing

Brass featured regularly as a complement to plain or painted wood, adding an elegant highlight to simple forms. Often used for functional details (fastenings, handles or mechanisms) the material references craftsmanship and scientific instrumentation.

HBL Material Analysis: Copper

Max Lamb

WGSN-homebuildlife this week investigates an interesting trend in materials which sees designers utilising the malleability of copper to produce a range of strikingly different surface finishes, from expanses of high shine to pock-marked and distorted effects.

HBL Tradeshows: Live from Spring Fair

Authentic Models at Spring Fair 2011

WGSN reports live from Spring Fair in Birmingham, UK, highlighting the three key trends to emerge from this year's event:

1. The rise of home scent
Following WGSN's recent report on the topic, diffusers and other scent dispensers were a key trend at this year's fair, with manufacturers taking a number of approaches - from self-consciously masculine ranges to literary and even scientific themes.

2. 360°
WGSN's A/W 11/12 macrotrend 360 was strongly confirmed at the show. Brands showed products inspired by the Age of Discovery, referencing intrepid voyages to unknown lands and sightings of exotic species.

3. Pastels
The stand-out colour trend was for muted pastels, in a range of soft colourways including blue, green, yellow and neutrals, and usually set against washed or matt surfaces.

Read about our exclusive trends stands on show at the event here.

PAPA by USIN-e at Maison&Objet

Photos by Loic Benoit

Furniture and accessories with tufted edges, fringing or fur upholstery is a key emerging trend that was seen at last month's Maison&Objet fair in Paris. We spotted these furry, scifi-esque creations by young French designers USIN-e in the Talents à la Carte section of Hall 7.

HBL's A/W 11/12 Trends at Spring Fair

A/W 11/12 macrotrend 360, confirmed by objects on show at Spring Fair 2011

With 300,000 product launches and 3000 exhibitors across 12 sectors, Spring Fair is a key destination for buyers to both plan and order their ranges for the following seasons.

This year sees a new area called the Trendhouse, where WGSN-homebuildlife have laid out a display confirming all of our macrotrends for A/W 11/12 using products on show at the fair. The fair runs until Thursday, and you can find us in Hall 10.

reGeneration2: Tomorrow's Photographers Today, Aperture Gallery

Untitled (shipwreck) from the belly of the whale series by Robin Friend, 2008

reGeneration2 is an exhibition of up and coming photographers from around the world, which is currently showing at the Aperture gallery in Chelsea, New York. Curators at the Musée de l'Elysée selected eighty of the most promising candidates from some seven hundred entries submitted by 120 of the world's top photography schools. The resulting exhibition offers a fascinating insight into how today's young photographers view the world, how they respect, build on, or reject tradition, and whether they choose the darkroom, the computer lab, or both, to make their art.

American Streamlined Design

American Streamlined Design: The World of Tomorrow, a new exhibition at Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, OK, focuses on a design era that emerged during the 1930s and 1940s, characterized by curving forms, and smooth, clean silhouettes. The style, which suggested speed and glamour, entered American design in the post-Depression years. It was widely applied in new forms of architecture, interior decoration and everyday household goods for the home and office.

Palm Springs Modernism Week 2011

Get a peek at Palm Springs Modernism Week 2011. The week of February 17-27 celebrates the modernist aesthetic of the California desert, and mid-century modernist design that the area is famous for preserving. Events, home tours, lectures, film screenings, parties are all on the agenda.

The week also includes the Architecture and Design film series in association with Design Onscreen, lectures, the vintage car show and other activities that will be held in various venues throughout the City of Palm Springs.

HBL Tradeshows: Stelton at NYIGF

Scandinavian design house Stelton debuted some beautifully simple designs at this year's NYIGF. Paring back on embellishment, and carefully designing each element of a product resulted in kitchenware that is stark and beautiful.

HBL Interviews: Tord Boontje

Tord Boontje; a Design Products seminar in progress

WGSN-homebuildlife interviewed Tord Boontje, Head of Design Products at London's Royal College of Art, to find out his vision for the course and how he thinks design education will develop in the future.

Boontje also discusses the influence of his predecessor, Ron Arad, on the course and the current changes being made to the entire academic infrastructure of the RCA by its new rector, Paul Thompson - in the face of significant spending cuts by the British government which heavily affect arts education nationally. 

HBL Tradeshows: Hasami Porcelain Japan at NYIGF

One of WGSN's favorite new brands at New York International Gift Fair is Hasami Porcelain Japan. Distributed in the US by Saikai Trading, a wholesaler of fine Japanese tableware and homeware, the porcelain company is based in a historical town in the south of Japan.

HBL Events: Mothers by Martin Creed

Work no. 1092 from Mothers by Martin Creed (2011). White neon, 250x1250cm. Copyright Martin Creed. Reproduced courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Hugo Glendinning

Turner prize-winning artist Martin Creed is currently showing a selection of new pieces at Hauser & Wirth, Savile Row, London. The exhibition is entitled Mothers, with its centrepiece a monumental sculpture consisting of the titular word spinning around the gallery space at dizzying speed. Other works on show include paintings and photographic studies, and Creed has also released a single and video to accompany the exhibition.