Innovation & Technology

Swiss company Feller's high-quality sockets and switches meet the technological demands of modern life while visually celebrating over a century of manufacturing heritage.

As homes become smarter and in ever-increasing numbers, the iF Design Award 2021 honours the manufacturers that are making our homes more secure and our lives more healthy and comfortable.

The smart, metallised solutions of Kvadrat Shade’s roller blind textiles help transform buildings into Positive Energy Buildings, reducing carbon footprints and energy costs all at once. Watch the video to find out more...

The 3M™ Sun Control Window Films Prestige Series from 3M protects against solar radiation, making buildings not only more environmentally friendly but bringing economical benefits, too.

Behnisch Architekten’s new Science and Engineering Complex at Harvard has set new standards in sustainable building. Here’s how German partition specialist Feco was part of it.

Earth and technology to sustainably build the cities of the future.

With sophisticated, innovative technology concealed behind minimalist exterior designs, Italian door-system specialist Eclisse is a perennial favourite with architects.

In Lombardy, a residential renovation sees walls and doors become one thanks to Eclisse’s Syntesis® collection…

Combining a sleek aesthetic with maximum functionality, Regent Lighting’s PURELITE luminaire and RUN and RUN+ diffusers offer illumination without limits. Watch the video to find out more...

Kvadrat Shade’s customisable roller-blind systems not only create comfortable indoor climates all year round, they also help architects and planners reach the energy-efficiency goals demanded of buildings today.

More than 50 years of experience in the production of upholstery fabrics for the contract sector has once again helped Morben earn the title of ‘Best Managed Company’.

Good for the environment, well-being and safety: 3M™ window films not only regulate the light and heat transmission of windows, they also help reduce costs and risk of injury.

Milan-based architect and 3M global consultant Paola Silva Coronel explains how 3M foil technology can help make luxurious, large-scale, surface environments come to life – and within budget too.

Italian manufacturer Foglie d'Oro brings high-quality, responsibly sourced materials and precision craftsmanship together with as much expertise as the elements in its high-end parquet floors.

Thanks to modern LED technology and demand-oriented sensor control, the LUCTRA VITAWORK floor lamp reduces electricity costs and contributes to environmental protection.

While Gaggenau’s stylish 400 series combi-steam ovens offer unrivalled flexibility and ease of use to inspire private chefs, two features have become obsolete. The handle and the hassle. Watch the video to learn more.

Know what ‘active hygiene’ is? We didn’t until 90-year-old Finnish furniture company ISKU invited us to find out…

For total creative freedom in designing with glass, 3M has developed a diverse range of solutions for facades and interiors that change depending on light conditions.

Gaggenau’s CV282 flex induction cooktop with powerful integrated ventilation system boasts features like professional cooking and frying functions, sensor-controlled performance adjustment and flexible heat zones. Watch the video to learn more.

'It's never too late,' says Ibizan-born designer Eugeni Quitllet of the all-new Recycled Grey version of Pedrali's strong-selling Remind monobloc chair.

Since 2010, the enlightening Heinze ArchitekTOUR expo and networking event has become one of the key talking shops for the future of architecture. With a third virtual event from 19 April to 14 May 2021, watch the video to find out more.

FRITSJURGENS pivoting doors can be installed in minutes and give architects the possibility to make lasting statements.

Want your design recognised with a Focus Open award? The Design Center BW is looking for new products or products so new they've not yet been launched. Check it out!

With topics ranging from community building through cultural perception to architects as business developers, the Heinze ArchitekTOUR’s ‘Out of the Box’ series identifies new approaches and new role models for how we will live tomorrow.

To advance visionary concepts, the right people need to be in the room, so Heinze has invited emerging talents as well as established industry experts to join the ArchitekTOUR supporting programme.

From 19 April to 14 May, the industry will come together virtually for the Heinze ArchitekTOUR – a digital space for exploring ideas about how we will live and work in the future.

Italian manufacturer Dresswall shows how to clad walls in hours rather than days with its new DresswallStripes collection – creating environments that range from the minimalist to the theatrical.

Designers increasingly need sustainable fabrics for their contract projects, not just hard-wearing ones. Enter Canadian manufacturer Morbern.

With its advanced disabled access, modular format and digital functionality, Swiss firm BURRI’s smart HSI® ONE bus shelter is just what architects and urban planners have been waiting for.

Occhio+ represents a broadening of the Occhio product portfolio into the larger contract sector, and, as such, is aimed explicitly at architects and planners.

Occhio's project service offers comprehensive, 360° support to clients – leaving no question unanswered when it comes to lighting design.

Planners looking to not only illuminate interiors, but rather achieve a sense of dramaturgy with ambient light, will find the right partner in Munich-based lighting specialist Occhio.

We connect with Patrick Speck and Carina Buhlert, design experts at GROHE – one of the leading global bathroom-solutions and kitchen-fixtures brands – to discuss product innovation and the launch of its new digital-experience platform, GROHE X.

The new digital platform GROHE X from Grohe is a comprehensive, immersive online experience that presents architects, trade-professionals and consumers alike with not only information, but innovation and inspiration, too.

The versatile table luminaire JOKER by Regent Lighting provides targeted, glare-free light with manually adjustable colour temperatures – allowing people to create the lighting mood that's right for them. Watch the video to find out more.

Get some bonus technology insights from architect Carlo Ratti, Vanessa Quirk of Sidewalk Labs, and smart-home expert Andreas Dörflinger...

In 2021, the world's largest trade fair for water, heating and air conditioning, ISH, focuses on the innovative technologies that will shape the bathrooms of the future – and this year, for the first time, in digital form.

‘If it's not a smart home you're building these days, then it's already an old house,’ says German smart-home expert Andreas Dörflinger. Watch now for more insight and commentary!

How to design for remote work in the future? SYSTEM 180 has connected (via video conference) with the HPI D-School in Potsdam to develop new ideas for hybrid work spaces.

‘I think inherent in the term "smart city" is a bit of a whiff of techno-solutionism,’ says Vanessa Quirk of Sidewalk Labs. Watch now for more insight and commentary!

'The Internet of Things civilisation has to find its architectural expression,’ says Carlo Ratti. Watch now for more insight and commentary!

TECHNOLOGY DESIGN WEEK: Workplace strategist and designer Araceli Torres Muñoz discusses the challenges of the changing workplace and describes how technology can be harnessed as a driver of positive change.

Trust Swiss textile specialists CRÉATION BAUMANN to develop a curtain collection that provides both comfortable indoor conditions and energy-saving benefits. Meet GLARE & HEAT...

ALPHABET BY ZAMBELIS's EPSILON52 Magnetic range can be complemented with magnetic spotlights to create bespoke lighting installations in offices, libraries and museums, as well as in retail and residential spaces.

ALPHABET BY ZAMBELIS’s TAF24 luminaire system can easily switch between horizontal and vertical configurations, offering scope to planners for creating sculptural lighting effects.

Greek luminaire manufacturer ALPHABET BY ZAMBELIS’s new website functions as a planning tool for creating the right lighting concepts, as well as helping professionals communicate their ideas to customers.

Watch architect Carlo Ratti, Vanessa Quirk from Sidewalk Labs, and smart-home expert Andreas Dörflinger!

TECHNOLOGY DESIGN WEEK: With homes becoming increasingly smart, José Tomás Franco outlines eight strategies for incorporating domotics into architecture.

Platform lifts. Swedish manufacturer ARITCO shows how architects can integrate them into residential properties without them looking like an afterthought – but rather a serious design statement.

In order to meet the ambitious design goals and exacting standards of its prestige project in Dubai, architectural firm KPF turned to ORAMA MINIMAL FRAMES, with its extraordinary, innovative aluminium-frame solutions.

ORAMA MINIMAL FRAMES’ window- and door-frame series ZERO° shows how inside and out can be seamlessly merged – even when it comes to more-complex floor plans.

Dutch office specialist DATAFLEX offers planners and specifiers a range of sustainably manufactured monitor and cable management solutions – modular systems that help to make working spaces not only more efficient but more beautiful, too.

Which kind of light is best for working? The one you have to think about least. With LIGHTPAD, Swiss manufacturer REGENT LIGHTING has created a modular system that optimally lights the workspace – whatever the time of day.

When we consume the earth's precious resources, they should be used as sustainably as possible and then renewed – just like Finnish wood veneer manufacturer CWP does it.

LIGALICHT stands for premium design, innovation, LED expertise, sustainability and Swiss quality.

FURNITURE DESIGN WEEK: Designing agility into workplace projects is here to stay. Furniture that responds to, and even drives this, is required now more than ever. Italian brand MARA, with its Follow family of tables, has the answer.

There’s only one firm in Switzerland that produces high pressure laminate (HPL) sheets: ARGOLITE.

The first ever sliding window system for skyscrapers by Swiss company Air-Lux has already proven itself under stringent US testing conditions. Just why it is the first to be suitable for high-rise buildings, with their enormous wind loads, is

Watch now to find out how contemporary architecture and intelligent technologies are harmonising in Busch-Jaeger's new film series.

Artificial intelligence is increasingly relevant, but what does it mean for the design sector? A look at experimental approaches and the first chair produced in series by man and machine. (DE / FR only)

His latest project for AGROB BUCHTAL has led Sebastian Herkner into a new field, one where a symbiosis of creativity and physics saw the go-to product designer dig out his old maths book.

The desire to express one's personality while communicating over zoom and other apps at home has caused demand for expressive wallpapers from the Italian manufacturer TECNOGRAFICA to boom.

The comprehensive new GEBERIT ONE system means you no longer have to compromise when it comes to bathroom design and bathroom function. How so? Watch the video to find out...

How to maintain a real-time face-to-face work dynamic safely, during pandemic times? The FLEXup OptiSpace system from interiors-specialist LINDNER offers a convincing answer.

It has never been more important to pay attention to the sustainable credentials of the materials we use in our buildings – and companies such as LG Hausys, manufacturer of HI-MACS®, are leading the way.

ASB GLASSFLOOR has been lighting up the world of sport with its cutting-edge LumiFlex floor technology for years. Now, with DigitalWallpaper, it has set its sights on a broad new range of applications. Sunglasses optional.

For sure, carpets bring with them a broad range of health, wellness and comfort benefits but with VORWERK FLOORING, they also come with serious environmental credentials.

Smart, quiet and discreet, the glassdraftAir worktop ventilation system from SIEMENS HOME APPLIANCE is optimally suited to modern, open kitchen spaces that are as much about sociability as they are about cooking.

Enviable design collaborations and unparalleled Made-in-Germany quality are only part of the VORWERK story. The premium carpet manufacturer has always had sustainability in the weave.

Contemporary open-plan workspaces are perfect for creativity and collaboration, but for those times when you need to take a step back, there’s bosselino.

You only get one chance to make a good first impression, they say. The latest office facades do just that.

If the gods on Mount Olympus had a kitchen, it might just resemble FOLD, the monolithic, shimmering-gold kitchen block by STEININGER.DESIGNERS.

Award-winning architectural office HENN has translated contract-furniture specialist BRUNNER’s values into a tangible, physical form. Step inside its Innovation Factory.

Hygiene is one of the most important aspects of any bathroom – and Duravit has led the way with innovations such as touch-free controls and rimless toilets. Its new HygieneGlaze coating is just the latest game-changer.

Light in all senses of the word. Illan, from Italian lighting manufacturer LUCEPLAN, responds to the slightest of air currents. Pure poetry.

German monitor manufacturer NOVIS creates technology that seamlessly integrates with furniture – and with no functional compromise.

A raft of new search filters, plus a completely new image-based search functionality, give architects and other architonic.com users greater research efficiency and product inspiration.

A lamp made from industrial waste or furniture made from mushrooms? The design world has long since discovered a multitude of new materials and innovative manufacturing methods. The results are both surprising and impressive. (DE and FR only)

Danish speaker manufacturer DALI has local representation in over 70 countries, so one of its trained specialists is never too far away, wherever you are in the world.

Sound design for large, open spaces – such as train stations – brings with it many challenges. Thankfully, with their high-performance, wide-dispersion speakers, DALI provides an answer.

Danish sound specialist DALI has fine-tuned the art of bringing clear sound to large spaces – to the delight of architects and designers everywhere.

Linea Light Group presents an entire dedicated line, contained in a single brand: i-LèD Industrial

With control systems that include warm bronze tones and subtly shimmering surfaces, premium manufacturer of intelligent building technology GIRA, offers new creative freedom to specifiers interested in reflecting current trends.

What makes an original an original? You can find the answer to this and more in GIRA’s G-Pulse – an online magazine aimed explicitly at architects and interior designers.

GIRA’s new pushbutton sensor 4 may employ a minimalist design language, but with its choice of LED icon colours as well as a pleasantly haptic response to touch, it packs a powerful, multi-sensory punch.

Dauphin’s new Fiore chair collection has an invisible USP – an antimicrobial MicroSilver finish that is effective against bacterial infection and other micro-organisms.

URBAN RIGGER®'s floating residential buildings were designed in cooperation with the Danish architectural firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) to alleviate the housing shortage in the city and provide accommodation for over 70 students.

The 15th edition of ISE delivered a vibrant showcase of exhibitors and an exciting programme of events. We look back at the highlights from the final show in Amsterdam as ISE prepares for the next phase of its evolution.

Swiss lighting specialists REGENT LIGHTING's new rollable diffuser RUN+ finally makes uninterrupted, joint-free lighting planning possible. Nothing's going to stop us now.

Do not follow the flow, bring it where you want.

With its 37 years of experience, Danish manufacturer DALI has developed wall-mountable loudspeakers that stand firm even when subjected to vibration – so turn it up!

The complex technology behind DALI's CI Hi-FI loudspeakers delivers a smoother sound and a larger ‘sweet spot’ for the listener – with no compromise on aesthetics.

Danish loudspeaker manufacturer DALI is on a mission to convince interior designers of the value of audio products – with high-quality, easy-to-install speakers that respect a space's clean lines.

Expand your ideas of what’s possible by visiting ISE

Munich-based company OCCHIO has been revolutionising the light in our rooms for 20 years – systematically, brightly, with future-oriented technologies towards a new culture of light. And that’s only the beginning.

It is also often nice if details stay invisible. Fully in accordance with the Bauhaus maxim – now a hundred years old.

To create residential properties that deliver the best-integrated experience for homeowners as well as the right aesthetic fit, the design-build and home technology communities should work together to recognise the needs of the industry. ISE 2020 is

For almost 60 years, porcelain stoneware manufacturer Casalgrande Padana has been investing heavily in research to extend the performance limits of ceramics in an architectural context.

BIM technology is able to feed 3D technologies with a whole range of additional intelligent information – which opens up numerous new possibilities in the field of visualisation. At BIM World MUNICH this year, you’ll be able to see three

BIM World MUNICH will feature a comprehensive programme of events covering all aspects of Building Information Modeling. One of the focus points: How can digital transformation contribute to more sustainability in construction?

At BIM World MUNICH on 26 and 27 November, more than 200 exhibitors – established companies and start-ups alike – will present the latest tools and technologies for digitising the construction and real estate industries.

German specialists in smart-building technology BUSCH-JAEGER have developed a multitude of networked products and services that impress with their simple, intuitive usability and discreet elegance.

Equipped with intelligent technologies, the latest cohort of smart homes are opening the door to easier and more efficient living.

Let’s face it. Sometimes you do judge a book by its cover. And a building by its facade. We bring you a selection of innovation-led architectural show-offs...

RENZ, based near Stuttgart, is the European market leader in post box systems. Their innovative myRENZbox makes receiving parcels much easier, for businesses and private customers alike.

Digital technology is becoming increasingly embedded in the architectural fabric of the home. Sometimes foregrounded, occasionally centre-stage, but mostly taking an almost invisible back-seat.

Suspended ceilings made of mineral fibre-panels traditionally finish their life cycle on the rubbish tip. However, mineral-tile producer and market leader OWA, based in Amorbach, Germany, has developed a process for reclaiming and completely

Wayfinding and place-making is, well, going places. Graphic designer and place-making specialist Richard Wolfströme looks at what happens when 2D gives 3D architectural space that extra dimension.

When the first ‘modern automobile’ was introduced to the world, it was the year 1886. The ultramodern horseless vehicle would remain the exception for a number of years, and parking problems were unknown, and still a long way off. Wöhr was

In September, we saw the launch of the eagerly anticipated Apple Watch. Much has already been said about the potential impact of this device on the worlds of consumer electronics, fashion, well-being and productivity. It’s certainly a step forward

Without realising it, we’re on autopilot almost all of the time, filtering information aurally, physically and visually at an amazing rate. Our nerve impulses to and from the brain travel as fast as 250 miles per hour, faster than a Formula 1 car!

Following take-off on a recent flight from Hong Kong to London – and just as I settle into my seat – a baby starts to scream! The commotion is coming from towards the back of the A380. I contemplate an entirely sleepless night flight and then