Building back better with ICFF

ICFF returns to the Javits Center on the 14 and 15 November, to showcase the fruits of the design industry’s lockdown labours, and host conversations around a sustainable and inclusive future.

By Emma Moore and ICFF

ICFF

November 8, 2021 | 11:00 pm CUT

Masters of timeless Danish lighting design, Le Klint, will showcase new and classic pieces in conjunction with lighting specialists Ameico

The design industry’s march back towards normality continues this month with ICFF throwing open real-life doors on real-life exhibitions in its habitual home, New York’s Javits Centre. Part of NYC x Design festival week, the rescheduled ICFF will take place over 2 days, and is joined in its first post-pandemic outing to the Javits Centre by WantedDesign Manhattan, the trade show for emerging designers across the globe. Until 2019, the latter had taken place in the nearby Terminal Warehouse building; now under the same ownership, the two complementary shows will co-locate. Also concurrent and under the same roof, this showtime round is BDNY, the hospitality fair for boutique and lifestyle brands that unites designers, architects, developers and hoteliers.

Multiforme is a tiling collection from Italian ceramic specialists Marca Corona, with surface finishes inspired by concrete and resin, seen here in brick form on the vertical planes

Showcasing the labours of lockdowns

ICFF is always a place to catch up on the latest launches and assimilate the trends and talking points of the past 12 months, in both the residential and contract sectors. This year there is something of a celebratory mood; excitement is mounting in anticipation of hugs and non-virtual hijinks over shared tables (now designed to encourage conviviality at all costs), and the opportunity to honour the perseverance, innovation and hard-thinking that has gone on behind the Covid curtain. This ICFF is an invitation, according to the newly made-over magazine-style website, www.icff.com, to ‘see the changes and hear the stories’.

San Francisco-based lighting specialists Pablo Designs will show a new family of lights called Nivel. Seen here is Nivel Pedestal

Local design heroes and global faithfuls

Expecting around 300 exhibitors from around 25 different countries to bring tales and the fruits of lockdown labours, there will be familiar faces at many of the booths. From stalwarts of the local design community, Bernhardt Design, who will partner with ICFF Studio to present the work of three competition-winning designers from 2020, unable to exhibit when the fair was cancelled (Jose Bared, Conor Coghlan and Joel Rojas), to international faithfuls, such as Gubi, who will showcase the new Howard Collection by Space Copenhagen and Violin Dining Chair by GamFratesi, there will be plenty to stimulate design-starved fair-goers.

For those who are taking time to reaccustom to the buzz, ‘Oasis’ is a space being created on-site by Float Studio, where fair-goers can step out of the melée and foster those connecting conversations that we’ve so missed over the past two years. It artfully unites inviting pieces by Friends & Founders, Ornäs, Mazō, Lambert & Fils and Talk Carpet/Ege.

Gubi will be showing some of its latest launches, alongside a new version of Pierre Paulin’s Pacha lounge chair – with armrests – a design taken from Paulin’s sketch book

Talks that take us into the future

A robust talks programme will underpin proceedings, with highlights including a one-on-one conversation with Ini Archibong about his work, including his involvement in the upcoming exhibit at The Met, Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room. John Capobianco of IA Interior Architects is set to moderate a talk on how social media has changed the way designers work while Dror Benshetrit and Axel Clissen will explore an interconnected future where holistic ideas are a vehicle for change.

And where would a design happening be without a converging of food and furniture? Besides there being opportunities for some real-life, design-inspired eating, the team behind Pinch Food will be taking part in the talks programme, speaking about the experiences they create with 'food furniture.' So much was achieved by the design world virtually, so much can be done in person.