Maison&Objet, the design world’s best known and most awaited international trade show, returned this September for its Paris edition with much aplomb and even more Elan.
Maison&Objet Paris concluded its recent show in Paris’ Parc des Expositions Paris Nord Villepinte. Held from 4th to 8th September, 2015, Maison&Objet allured over 69,000 visitors, 50% French, 50% international over a period of five days. The event served as a significant trade show gathering visitors for an exhaustive showcasing of the latest trends in decor and design.
The activities and presentations of Maison&Objet Paris this September coalesced around the theme, ‘precious’. A word that primes notions of mystery, cut stones and raw materials made beautiful by the sheer genius of man. As François Bernard, member of the Maison&Objet Observatory, propounds, “The theme precious came forth as a metaphor for that which is rare and unique.”
Always engaged in reinventing and redefining itself, Maison&Objet launched its Inspiration Forum, a new structure where visitors could find the Trends area, featuring a pop-up bookstore and conference space. In the Inspiration Forum, the three Trend-Setters François Bernard, Vincent Grégoire and Elizabeth Leriche expounded upon the theme and took it in new directions.
The show also altered its grouping of exhibitors, opting to go by lifestyle as opposed to sector. So under the overarching decorative offering of Maison were grouped the sectors Eclectic, Cosy, Elegant and Actuel. Under Objet were grouped sectors such as Craft, Fragrances and Cook+Design.
The Luxe, Design and Architecture D’Intérieur consisted of sectors like Now! Design à vivre, scènes d’intérieur gallery and Maison&Objet projets. The regrouping of the sectors and the new layout that it demanded assuaged the need of the specifier industry and made the navigation more streamlined and logical for the buyers.
Now! Design à vivre and Maison&Objet projets, some of the more popular sectors, have also been reinvented to inspire visitors. Dedicated to technical and decorative solutions for interior design, Maison&Objet projets garnered 195 exhibitors – 45 more than last September.
A work especially worth mentioning at the event was the Floating Flower Garden created by the Japanese digital technology collective, teamLab. A suspended flower garden with its roots attached overhead, it provided for a beautiful, surreal sensory experience. The gardens would rise with the approach of a spectator, forming a dome over their head, and then lightly fall down again. The technological expertise of teamLab ensured that the flowers grew each day.
One of the major highlights of Maison&Objet was the Designer of the Year award. The September edition looked at and awarded the best designer closely related to the world of interior architecture. Dorothée Meilichzon was declared to be the winner.
For the show, Meilichzon presented her creation for a café, which was a stunning scenography in the form of a vast 3D painting. Snug alcoves and niches were infused with colourful cut-outs with curved lines, neon outlines and overlapping spaces in order to create comfortable places where one might relax on a coffee break.
Talents à la Carte was another award segment of this event, that highlighted six emerging designers or pair of designers. Dedicated to uncover hidden gems of talent in design, Talents à la Carte offered six talented designers a chance to present their creation to professionals from all over the world.
Maison&Objet Paris provided a platform for designers to showcase their work, and served as an indispensible opportunity for visitors hoping to gauge the current trends in design.
Text By Tasneem S. Pocketwala
Contact
MAISON & OBJET INDIA OFFICE
(Raj Anand & Associates)
tel: +91-22-25224081
email: raj@rajanandassociates.com
web: www.maison-objet.com
