New, New, New! At IMM Cologne

IMM Cologne introduced several new products from seating systems to kitchen accessories.

Modular Seating

e15 presented the Kerman sofa by e15 co-founder Philipp Mainzer and Farah Ebrahimi. It was awarded Best of Best in the 2017 Iconic Award: Interior Innovation. Kerman fits public and private spaces with rearrangeable seating modules, poufs and armrests, available in fabrics ranging from sober to flamboyant.

Rolf Benz’s Agio sofa by Norbert Beck can be repositioned as a twin-seater sofa, a two-part sectional sofa or an individual long chair. The side elements fold upwards to provide backrests, or outwards into a comfortable flat surface. The seatbacks pivot and bend individually.

A Side of Simplicity

Thonet introduced the S 18 side table by designer Uli Budde. This year, the IMM “Featured Editions” proposed the key theme “textiles,” which inspired Budde to explore steel’s textile properties. Computer-driven steel wire gives the S 18 wire base a multifaceted, flexible appearance with minimal components.

S 18 side table by designer Uli Budde for Thonet

Team 7’s sturdy but subtle Loop side table highlights the aesthetic qualities of wood. A wooden supporting leg connects the wooden ring of the base to the congruent ring of its surface. Loop’s wide thin façades maximize grain exposure.

Cross-Discipline

With 127 years of wood craftsmanship experience in seating, Swiss company Girsberger tries their hand at wooden kitchen accessories. The Essentials solid wood collection introduces a series of wooden bowls, dishes and cutting boards.

Form-fitting shoe company Birkenstock partners with Austrian bed and mattress manufacturer ADA, extending their form-fitting expertise to sleep systems. The new collection includes beds, slatted frames and mattresses.

“Swiss company Girsberger tries their hand at wooden kitchen accessories.”

Trans-Oceanic Fusion

Petite Friture presented the Hoff collection, which includes two modular steel, wood and textile stools and armchairs, which can be arranged to create sofas and interior landscapes. Norwegian designers Morten & Jonas designed Hoff with the textile collaboration of Brazil-born Kioshi Yamamoto whose Japanese roots influence his work.

Ames debuted the Caribe furniture series as part of the Sala collection. German designer Sebastian Herkner mixes Colombian colors and traditional weaving with simple European forms for the collection made in Colombia. It includes dining chairs, lounge chairs and basket tables.

Déjà vu

Swiss chair manufacturer Horgenglarus reintroduces a classic, Ga Stuhl. Architect and designer Hans Bellmann conceived of the plywood chair, resembling two halves split down the center, in 1955, which Horgenglarus produced until 1970. Now the manufacturer updates Bellman’s chair.

Freistil draws on traditional Shaker furniture’s craftsmanship, minimalism and warmth for the 156 dining collection. Mortising is applied throughout the solid oak frame of tables and benches adding natural 19th-century flourishes.