In his quest to test the limits, man has entered into a new age, the mega age. Not to be outdone and faced with the necessity of keeping up with their reference markets, fairs have had to grow in order to express the increasing diversity on offer from manufacturers and producers and to continue to surprise, year after year, visitors spoilt by an overabundant choice. The 2006 edition of the Salone del Mobile de Milano was a case in point, as impressive architecturally due to the new site created by Massimiliano Fuksas as it was for its area in square metres (200 000 m²) and also for the bombastic design of the booths. Before Milan, Cologne in Germany and Valencia in Spain had already reorganised with very similar ambitions. In such a context, it is difficult to see how Paris can send out a clear message, with two furniture fairs in the process of repositioning themselves and Maison & Objet pursuing its policy of all-out expansion.

In these circumstances, the question of how best to tailor these international fairs to the markets they are supposed to serve grows ever more pressing. For, at the very moment that markets are becoming increasingly segmented under the dual influence of the need to both personalise and distinguish, is such gigantism always appropriate as companies seek to rise to the consumer expectation of unlimited choice? Isn’t the real opportunity today in the niche markets created around selective ranges that are both original and innovative? Everyone knows that hypertrophy is reaching its limits through its lack of reactivity and adaptation to the wishes of an increasingly fickle consumer. This phenomenon gives outsiders a chance to develop more original offers in the areas of both structuring products and services. Hence the question is whether the future lies in ever larger international fairs that we will soon no longer be able to see in a mere five days, or in alternative thematic events that are more closely targeted and complementary to these larger gatherings? Good sense would encourage us to start thinking about and discussing this subject now, whatever our immediate interests might be. Watch this space…

Gérard Laizé.
Managing Director of the VIA.

April 5th - 10th 2006
www.cosmit.it

The 2006 edition of the Milan Furniture Fair will go down in memory as one of the very best. The main attraction this year was the show’s move to the new Rho-Pero site, created by the architect Massimiliano Fuksas. The organisers made the most of this opportunity to win back prestigious brands such as the Charme group (Cappellini, Cassina, Poltrona Frau, Alias, Gufram and Gebrüder Thonet Vienna), who had abandoned the main show in favour of the fringe event. The result: a record number of visitors (240 000). Five days proved too short a time to visit the 200 000m² of show space and some 150 events organised in the city!
 

The Milan Furniture Fair, April 5th - 10th 2006
www.cosmit.it

This year, the Milan Furniture Fair hosts the 16th edition of Eurocucina, a fair dedicated to the kitchen.  As for the rest of the fair, the three halls given over to this sector beat several records with 33 000m² taken up by 140 exhibitors within the brand new Rho-Pero complex on the edge of Milan.  The tone was set right from the start: laboratory, single-block and linear kitchens are back.
 

New York, May 20th - 23rd, 2006
www.icff.com

The only exhibition hall of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, an imposing block in tinted glass (01), is on the central-eastern side of Manhattan at the level of 36th Street. The ICFF takes up the whole of the first floor with the floor above occupied by a series of small fairs in the Arts and Crafts vein.
This fair, in the style of London‘s 100% Design but, with its more selective range of products, appears to be targeting prescribers. In addition to furniture, lighting and tableware, there is a large range of floor-coverings and light-work products. This is the perfect meeting-place for American architects.
 

The 18th Montréal International Interior Design Show
www.sidim.com

The exhibition hall is situated in the city centre, below the Place Bonaventure in the maze of underground galleries so specific to Montréal.  The 18th Montréal International Interior Design Show welcomes over three days some 300 exhibitors in all areas connected with the living environment in the widest possible sense of the words as one can find furniture, carpets and tableware, but also hardware, fireplaces, furnishings, machining, air conditioning, plumbing, and manufacturers of glassware, of composite wood products, of windows, of rolling blinds, of office furniture, etc…  The show’s intention is to be a space for creation and design and, in this context, its subtitle is a profession of faith: “For the love of design”.  A certain number of events attempt to turn this slogan into reality.
 

18th – 22nd May 2006
www.designmai.de

Berlin:  a unique phenomenon in the centre of old Europe, a city under reconstruction.  A huge building site in the middle of which squats coexist with buildings designed by the most renowned international architects, where parks lie next to wastelands with their graffiti.  Contrast which give free rein to creativity; anything seems possible.  So it is logical that this capital city host its own “design” event to put its local young talents into the spotlight.
 

Ever keen to develop innovative ideas for decorative glass, Glaverbel recently launched the Matelac range of coloured glasses. Designed for use in contemporary furniture and wall coverings, this rich range of 12 colours creates an opaque, satin-finish appearance where the glass merges seamlessly with its surroundings.
Matelac is a float glass, of which one painted side and one acid-etched side.
www.glaverbel.be
 

This is ETERNIT’s new range of boards for interior decoration.
Panel’Art is an interesting alternative to more traditional products as it is both looks good and has multiple technical qualities: mechanical resistance, fire performance (M1), sound insulating, water resistance. The surface has been sanded to smoothness and the material itself is constituted of particles of wood, of cement and of coloured pigments. Available in 3 thicknesses between 12mm and 18mm, two formats and three colours: natural, red and anthracite. Intended for use in interior decoration for the construction of partitions, doubling, ceilings and floors.
www.eternit.fr