Highlights from IMM Cologne 2015.

Wowee! It’s a flippin’ busy start of the year on the international Design Event circuit, let me tell YOU. IMM Cologne 2015, one of the first major annual events that plays a part in shaping the furniture and interiors for the coming year, is already behind us. Today we bring you a selection of the highlights on show at the German fair, including best new furniture and lighting.

But wait – there’s more! On Friday you can expect to see additional coverage relating to the work of young designers, design students & up-and-coming talent. Giddy up.

Related Post: Top 10 Products by Young Designers at IMM Cologne 2014.

Lax collection from More // This elegant furniture collection includes a table, a bench, a daybed and a bed, reminiscent of Danish and Italian style. If I’m not mistaken, this shot was taken inside the drool-worthy Atelier Hermann Rosa in Munich, which we’ve previously featured here.

The Tama Table by EOOS for Walter Knoll // In it’s balance of lightness and weight, simplicity and complexity, dynamism and calm, this occasional table demonstrates the fine art of sculptural design.

Joco Stone by EOOS for Walter Knoll // Joco Stone conveys ostensibly paradoxical impressions – the marble table top seems to float elegantly in space. The fine lines of the delicate framework and the premium quality of the natural material merge.

Healey Lounge by PearsonLloyd for Walter Knoll // This is a modern lounge chair that supports the rituals of our everyday medial life. The outer shell carries the soft upholstery – underlined by the distinctive piped quilting. It is a genuine tribute to the seats of legendary classic cars, with flowing lines that trace the shape precisely.

Cypris Mirror by Nina Mair for ClassiCon // Austrian architect Nina Mair designed a mirror that is reminiscent of 1950s elegance with its harmoniously shaped radii – and yet it is an absolutely contemporary design. It is available in two sizes and various versions, and can be mounted horizontally or vertically, or even leaned against the wall.

Bell Table by Sebastian Herkner for Classicon // New versions have been added to the successful Bell Table series designed by Sebastian Herkner – the metal top frame is now available in blackened steel and the glass base in the new colours Montana blue and quartz grey.

See more of Sebastian Herkner on Yellowtrace.
Read our interview with Sebastian Herkner in MILANTRACE / Edizione 2014.

Collar Lamp by Sebastian Herkner for GUBI // Collar Lamp is the German designer Sebastian Herkner’s first product for the Danish company GUBI. This series of pendent lights that combines hand-blown glass and an aluminium “collar”, used as a reflector, which gives it an iconic strong character.

The Modern Line Collection by GUBI // GUBI presented Modern Line, a new sofa collection by the female design icon Greta M. Grossman. To further enhance and complete the collections of Semi Lamp, Beetle, TS Table, Gubi Table 2.0 and Adnet Circulaire, new colour schemes were launched, with some of our favourite pieces shown above.

Marble Mirror by Studiopepe for Menu // This beautiful Marble Mirror from Menu is designed by Studiopepe, inspired by Italy’s aesthetics in the late 1950s. Robust materials like marble and brass gives Marble mirror a particular class, and add durability and solidity.

Foldwork by Friederike Delius // What looks like an artful wall piece when folded flat is Friederike Delius’s take on the much unloved clothing rack. Foldwork is made from brass and inspired by timber frame constructions. The initial idea for this project was to provide disregarded and primarily functional products in our household with a new appearance and give them their own personality.

Osis Table by Llot Llov // German design studio Llot Llov spent six months perfecting the salt patterns on their Osis tables. The salt is sprinkled on glazed spruce wood and allowed to react, where different types of salt provoke different patterns on the spruce wood. The table tops are available in three different sizes and sit upon a powder-coated steel base. When together, the three tables can be tucked into one another or can stand completely on their own.

Isom Table by Sebastian Scherer for Neo/Craft // Sebastian Scherer’s glass tables resemble cubistic objects with optical illusions. The tables are made from 10 mm strong coloured glass in blue, green, grey and bronze. A hexagonal glass top lays on three vertical rectangles, that meet in the centre. The dark reflecting cut surfaces build rhombuses, which evoke the illusion of an isometric cube. This effect increases by the overlaying transparent colours varying in their intensity depending on your perspective.

Iris Lamp by Sebastian Scherer for Neo/Craft // An iridescent crystal lamp, by Neo/Craft is the perfect illusion of a soap bubble. Depending of the perspective and the lighting situation, colours, transmission and reflections are changing. The iridescent coating has been specifically developed for Iris. “The idea of ​​”Iris” came during the visit of the Milan Furniture Fair, as I watched the children playing with soap bubbles. I immediately thought that it would be interesting to develop a luminous object that has the aesthetics of a soap bubble…”

Palo Sofa by Hem Design Studio & Key Side Table by GamFratesi.

Palo Sofa by Hem Design Studio & Alle Round Tables by Staffan Holm.

Alle Round Tables by Staffan Holm.

New Collection from Hem Design Studio // Hem is the first global, vertically integrated, online design studio, offering original, high quality modern designs, with mass customisation options and easy assembly solutions, in a consumer direct model, at affordable prices for everyday consumers. Some of the designers who collaborate with Hem to create original Hem designs include; Luca Nichetto, Form Us With Love, GamFratesi, Staffan Holm, and Hallgeir Homstvedt.

Beau Fixe Armchair & Sofa by Inga Sempé for Ligne Roset // Black metal frames clamp folded cushions into shape to form seats in this collection by French designer Inga Sempé for furniture brand Ligne Roset. While many seating designs aim to hide the frame, the designer wanted to offer a glimpse of the construction in each piece.

Das Haus by Neri & Hu // Shanghai-based architects Neri & Hu were behind this year’s “Das Haus” at imm cologne, presenting a new, very modern perspective on a home which includes timber of the finest quality from Dinesen. Visitors become observers when they are led through the house with curated views of the various rooms, adding new perspectives on architecture, design and living.

New Furniture Collection from Artek // Artek presents ‘Rival’, the result of the first collaboration between Konstantin Grcic and Artek. Decidedly rooted in the Artek furniture tradition, it represents a modern and fresh approach to the wooden chair. In addition Artek has also reintroduced several design classics from the archives of Finnish masters Alvar Aalto and Ilmari Tapiovaara.

Roy Coffee Table by Doriana e Massimiliano Fuksas for Fiam Italia // The Roy coffee table by Fiam plays with the eye with depth and curves of mirrored glass. A concave base composed of 10mm curved glass is mounted on four removable black or white legs with brushed steel feet, and the glass top is secured on top.

Solatium Seating System from B&B Italia // B&B Italia release a series of new pieces for the home in the living room, bedroom and outdoor areas. Solatium from the Apta Collection is the new classic seating system that includes 140 different elements. It features severe shapes softened by precious, elegant details. Several different configurations are possible, playing on the double depth of the elements – linear sofas with chaise-longue terminal elements, dynamic corner sofas with armrests and backs of different heights, and the ottomans.

Ontwerpduo Network Light Forest for &tradition // ‘Light Forest’ offers a functional and versatile lighting system that has the ability to crawl along walls, bend over beams, and fold corners, bringing illumination into spaces which usually are more difficult to access – addressing the problem of never having electrical points where you want them.

Lounge Chair 808 by Formstelle for Thonet // Munich design studio Formstelle has created a subtly patterned lounge chair, which iconic furniture brand Thonet has debuted at this years event. Inspired by “collars, covers, shells and underwater worlds”, the Lounge Chair 808 comprises a hard outer shell surrounding quilted upholstery.

Wafer Collection by Claesson Koivisto Rune for Matsuso T // With a simple, but sharp, contrast of light and dark wood, Swedish design trio Claesson Koivisto Rune created a striking and graphic pattern. The three items – a chair, a petite shelf and a small side table, are characterised by the alternating of these two woods arranged to create a graphic, striped effect. Created for Japanese design brand Matsuso T, the imaginative pairing of Maple and Walnut is impressively smooth and seamless from top to bottom – as if each piece were made from one continuous piece of wood.

Barca Lounge Chair from Branca Lisboa by Marco Sousa Santos // ‘Barca’ refers to a small wood lake boat, handmade, useful, smooth in proportions, and part of an idyllic scenario, as if it always have been there. The Barca lounge chair is the latest original piece from Branca-Lisboa, designed by Marco Sousa Santos. The use of the finest raw wood parts, the clever wood joints and a traditional weaving parts for the seat results in a light and smooth curved chair shape with a highly resistant structure.

Jupiter Armchair by Mauro Lipparini for Arketipo // Jupiter is an elegant and ergonomic armchair in which dynamic and stable lightness. A label with the progressive number is “sunk” into the fibreglass shell. Each armchair is numbered and signed as single piece by the designer.

Telebeute Light by HerrWolke // The Telebeute Light combines the variability wall mounted lights with the individual character of the booty light series. Cardboard strips determine their properties, defects, colour as typographic the individual character of each light.

FJU Desk by Kaschkasch // Designed by the German studio Kaschkasch for the Italian company Living Divani, the FJU is a slim and simple wall desk. The space-saving design mounts to the wall and can fold up to make use of two tiers of storage or down to reveal its smooth writing surface. Crafted from oak, the FJU desk comes naturally finished or dyed with charcoal. The design debuted at IMM Cologne 2015 (we first spotted the desk at Salone Satellite in Milan last year).

Kahawa Table for Artisan // Extending from a collaboration with Bosnian wood furniture company Artisan, the design of ‘Kahawa’ (which means ‘coffee’ in arabic) takes the main elements of a table — its legs and horizontal surface — and employs them in a new manner. Made from solid elm, maple or oak, with a powder coated steel framework.

Wool and Wooden Console by Amaury Poudray.

Table & Bowl by Aust & Amelung.

Mars & Pluto by Joa Herrenknecht. (First spotted at last year’s Salone Satellite in Milan.)

Hide by Karoline Fesser.

Objects in Between Exhibition // In the exhibition ‘Objects in between’, eleven designers show their own personal perception on the idea of “in between“. They work with contexts which they have set themselves – every product provides an individual opinion and at the same time lies between a personal point of view and a product suggestion. The group exhibition showed a range of products and furniture that represents the designers shared occupation with contemporary design and manufacturing technology.