Yo,
I flew to Paris last week for Maison&Objet.
I’ve been covering the show twice a year and have come to really like it. I wrote about some of my favorites from the show for Sixtysix here.
I’ve been attending trade shows for years, covering around ten big design fairs annually, so I’ve grown both fond and critical of them. Most fail in one big area: they rarely consider what it’s actually like to walk the show.
Up until 2011 Chicago had the same mayor, Richard Daley, for 22 years. Running Chicago for personal and political gain was a family business (his dad was Chicago’s mayor for 21 years.)
He was known to take drives through the city to note how things looked. He would carry a pad and mark anywhere he found an overflowing trash can. He was hyper-aware of how the city presented itself to visitors—which he attracted by the millions with new public art, architecture, and landscaping projects.
He understood that first impressions matter.
When I first arrive at a show I often just look around—what do the organizers and curators want me to see and feel when I arrive?
Almost every trade show fails to make a positive impression here (Design Miami, with their stunning Mathieu Lehanneur entrance installation, is a real outlier.)
To be fair, M&O has seven entrances to manage, but they do well with maps and wayfinding (unlike the notoriously confusing Salone del Mobile).
Hall 6 is what I consider the main entrance to the best design at the show. It’s a hall filled with new and interesting furniture, emerging artists, the always creative “What’s New in Hospitality” installation, and leads directly to the Designer of the Year’s pavilion.
When you descend onto the showfloor of Hall 6, you see a large blank white wall that makes you wonder if you came in the wrong way. Directly to the right of it there’s a long, snaking line of tired attendees trying desperately to get a cup of coffee (BDNY brilliantly sprinkles ample free coffee stations throughout their showfloor in the mornings.)
It’s an entrance that begs you to go back home. A total flop.
Ok, petty old-man gripes aside, the rest of the show was excellent.
Faye Toogood was named Designer of the Year. She made this amazing, and surprisingly very punk-rock, installation complete with paste-ups, papier mâché sculptures, and floating clothing racks.
I asked Faye what the inspiration behind the design was. She said, “This is what you would see if you cracked my brain open.”
She nailed the vibe by adding a companion newsprint zine.
The British Embassy held a little reception for her which was a fun experience, complete with massive doors, heavily armed security guards, and multiple ID checks. Churchill had dinner there in ’44. A bronze bust of him sat on top of a large stone staircase. The staff must have over-ordered champagne because they got us all very drunk.
I first met Kotaro Usugami at the world’s most powerful exhibition for emerging design, SaloneSatellite. At the time he was still working for Seiko, but now he’s founded his own studio and made this beautiful portable lamp called Moment. It turns on and off by waving your hand under it. It’s great.
Color was definitely back this year. On the left is the 100% recycled plastic Beluga chair from Polimair. On the right is a bright collection of stools from Polspotten.
Design firm Uchronia went wild with Tonester Paints for their hospitality installation on the left (it was one of the few exhibits to visit with consistently long lines.) On the right, a playful rug exhibit from Tapicheri.
On the left is the ADEI lamp from Baccaris (you can never have enough portable lamps.) On the right some ridiculous seating from Presence Art & Design. If “Rainforest Café-chic” ever becomes a thing, these guys are going to crush it.
A very interesting sculpture from Verter Turroni.
A side table from the reliably hilarious Seletti. Would you?
Welcome back. I took 17 weeks off from Money Folder. We’re renovating our house. It’s been bonkers. But I’m back! Thanks for waiting.
- Chris Force