Sorry we were a little late posting. Blame it on Mercury Retrograde. Full coverage of NeoCon might not happen until I’m back in New York, because I lost a day due to technical difficulties, and now have appointments to keep. But I will tell you this–NeoCon is jumping, despite tornadoes, four dollar-a-gallon gas,and a gloomy economy. In fact, we’d heard that a lot of design companies had scaled back on their showroom displays . But there is lots new to see, and happily there isn’t the preponderance of giveaway/throwaways gifts of past years. Is this due to the recession or a new eco-consciousness? Who knows? What follows is a survey of the best of what we’ve seen, mostly in the order that we’ve seen it.

 

One of the first things we saw, and most exciting, was Kimball’s new HUM office system, designed for “individual focus, collaborative effort, and everything in between.” Kimball has tagged the system “Minds at Work,” and it seems a fitting name. The work surfaces are convex, so the each individual’s desk system can height adjusted and so independent from the “huddle areas.”

There are various types of “terraces” for “parking” papers, files and personal accessories, all at different levels so that they can be shared or kept private. Another intriguing feature is the “touchdown” section at the end of each table for meeting with a visitor or catching up on a project with a team mate. Perhaps the coolest part are the lively cutout “see me” screens, which filter distractions without isolating individuals.

 

 

Koncept has created a new version of their award-winning task lamp using an improved LED technology.It comes in two sizes and is highly affordable–under $200. Below is the smaller size. These four little LEDs give a light almost comparable to incandescent.

 

At the booth for the Italian Ceramic Tile Commission we were amazed at the new advances in ceramic tile technologies. Numbered tiles seemed to be a trend.

We saw the SOM-designed Corian dining pod featured in Fulcrum’s Material Evidence section at where else? The Corian booth. If you haven’t read the piece, it explains how the pod was made.

At the Maharam booth, we saw Hella Jongerius’s Layers fabric collection, which is also featured in our debut issue. Check out the section Rollout. It’s much more stunning in real life. The photograph we featured doesn’t show off the depth of the layers.

 

 

 

The picture below is oddly angled, I know, but at least you see how cool the Dutch design Claudy Jongstra’s Drenth Heath in this new sea blue color. Who else but Maharam would offer this marvelous, utterly eccentric artisanal creation as a “textile.” What makes it so lush, lustrous and dimensional? Raw tufts of fleece meshed with a wool/silk face. I’d love to see it in a residential application, as an upholstery for a sofa perhaps. Luisa Cevese’s remarkable fabric Ply features embedded textile remnants in a soft polyurethane and it is especially striking in black.

 

 

 

 

Joel Berman Glass Studios introduced “Unity” a series of patterns on glass inspired by the contemplative art of Islam. I believe the studio uses a silkscreen technology. Beautiful.

 

 

A new company, at least to us, OFS based somewhere in the Carolinas offered a surprisingly contemporary bench. The company seems determined to push traditional wood furniture in more contemporary directions.

 

 

A sleek upholstered chair from the same company.

 

 

Healthcare is a big field for contract furniture manufacturers, as you probably know. But did you know there is a specialty field known as bariatrics? If you’re not familiar with the term,

it refers to medicine focused on the care and treatment of obesity. Considering that obesity is an epidemic in this country, it’s something of a growth field. Forgive the pun. Here’s some surprisingly attractive furniture from KI which caters to this audience. It’s known as the Arissa Collection. You can even imagine it in people’s homes.

 

 

Here’s the rest of the collection.

 

Almost all the furniture manufacturers at NeoCon marketed themselves as “eco-friendly.” And

featured green details in their showroom designs. One of the most handsome was the repurposed wood flooring at Gunlocke.

 

 

A clean-lined, but otherwise undistinguished sofa at Gunlocke became aquite intriguing

when upholstered in one of Hella Jongerius’s Layers fabrics for Maharam.

 

Can’t afford an original Jean Prouvé? Gunlocke offers room dividers based on

one of the French master’s designs.

 

In January, Knoll reissued its N19 Straight Chair and N 10 Splay-Leg Table that George Nakashima designed for the company in 1948, which the company produced until 1954. Here it is featured against a Knoll wallcovering called, “Pause” designed by Georgie Stout of 2×4,

the firm which designed Fulcrum.

 

Knoll Textiles introduced a new collection, called Knoll Luxe, which as its name

suggests features high-end fabrics for special, executive applications. It’s beautiful

and sumptuous, and very much influenced by fashion trends. I especially loved the embroidered fabric, which is handmade in India.

 

 

One of the most intriguing showrooms was Coalesse. The collection unifies the finest attributes of three well-regarded contract brands–Brayton, Metro, and Vecta–in one solution for live/work environments. These pieces definitely make the office more inviting and cozy, but

I don’t think it makes up for routine late hours. What does, save maybe a much bigger paycheck?

 

 

Among the furnishings in the Coalesse Collection are the Holy Day Lounge Chair and tables

by Jean Marie Massaud—sleek and comfortable.

Marc Krusin works mostly with European manufacturers, but now that his Wrapp chair for Viccarbe is part of the Coalesse Collection, he is sure to get more attention here.

 

 

 

 

Coalesse’s casegoods pieces are especially handsome. The pr person explained

what made them so special, and who designed them, but I’m writing this several days

later and fear I can remember any of the details. What I can say is that they are

extremely high quality.

 

These little table-stools conceived for lobby areas are also from Coalesse.

 

That’s a sampling of some of the best seen at NeoCon. We’ll be doing stories on other

products introduced at the show in future issues of Fulcrum.