What’s New In Contemporary Furnishings

The picture of this columnist lounging luxuriously on a reclining chair the size of a small football field pretty much sums up the wacky, wonderful, re-inventive world of the International Contemporary Furniture Fair or, to those in the know, the ICFF. This Tokyo lounge chair, not so enigmatically named the “Diaphragm,” is another witty contribution to revisionist furnishing concepts that populate this yearly trade show. This outdoor seating option encourages dog-piling as a form of poolside cocktail hour entertainment. Yet its sleek oval form, charcoal-anodized frame and luxe baseball-stitched leatherette also suggest that famous photo of lithe models casually draping their oil-glistening limbs across its generous expanse.

Of course, don’t be bothered by the fact that one needs an astrodome to accommodate its girth.

Revisionist, domestic concepts also present themselves in Amuneal’s inventive take on modular kitchens. Cabinetry, countertops and cooktops, all supported and suspended by elegant graphite rods and bracketed by bronze arms, lighten the usual clumsy appearance of our utilitarian kitchen. Their Loft Shelving System introduces the typical industrial chic elements, but is saved from trite cliché by gorgeous solid brass clasps, attenuated, elongated pulls and richly figured veneers.

Sometimes a booth can be so wacked out that you have no idea what it’s even selling. One absentee exhibitor chose to string thousands of clear pink plexiglass squares, each etched with a Japanese character on a grid. Printed on the rear wall of the booth in bold ace black script was, “WE’RE BEAUTIFUL WORDS.” The unattended space beckoned attendees to enter its rainfall forest of etched characters and simply lose themselves in the pink plexi world. Women and men giggled in delight and wondered as they wandered in its midst.

LED technology has led to a creative explosion in lighting. Ingenious wall-mounted, silver-like discs in rainbow colors became flexible sconces created by Koncept. They flip open, rotate and can be aimed simply by lightly twisting them. The perfect solution to a bedside reading light, these adorable compact lighting discs, called “Go, Mr., Go,” should be on everyone’s Christmas wish list.

Wackiness is not always the order of the day though. Veronese introduced a lighting fixture that I can’t resist and will find a home for. As pieces of art on one’s wall, their manipulation of glass is unique. One sconce, whose warm illumination emanates from a cinched-in gray, crystal bubble, sparkles with a gold-leaf backplate. Another lighting fixture is fabricated from overlapping layers of Prussian and walnut-hued glass, and appears as if thick, fluffy, transparent glass towels have been casually tossed onto a crystal radiator grill. Who thinks this up? Yet it is beautiful!

In a Zen Buddhist stroke, Veronese suspends an undulating glass, whose tiny black iron center emits a powerful starburst of light that utilizes the principle of bounced light off the background wall. My associate, Mercedes Ganes, remarked in amazement, “Such simple concepts—twisted, then reimagined,” which defines much of this show.

Apparatus Studio never fails to impress with their muscular introduction of illumination into the market. Last year’s heftily detailed, horsetail-themed sconces (which I thought could not be topped) were indeed surpassed this year by the clusters of frosted tubular chandeliers. Renowned for their lustrous metals in molten bronze, aged pewter, darkened gunmetal and hand-rubbed brass, they add tubes of thick-bottomed glass to their stable of powerful elements. Heroically masculine, stout in stature, these handsome fixtures will radiate star power in rustic barn interiors, steel-framed apartments and industrial lofts.

Gubi introduced a blue-white globe of flexible shades framed in brass that fit perfectly into a seaside kitchen. Its clever, spherical slices move about as one’s angle of mood dictates. Once again, the reaction reprises, “Such simple concepts. So reimagined!”

Playful would be another operative word for this year’s fair—a celebration of youthful exuberant ideas even down to a company that specializes in colorful electric cords for your lamps. If you are forced to see the electric cord of the device anyway, why must it have to be black, white or brown? ColorCord answers that need with a rainbow of options.

Alicia Adams Alpaca takes the cable-knit theme to gargantuan proportions with a knitted repeat fit for an elephant. And Jason Krugman Studio molds wire mesh and microscopic LED bulbs into shimmering floating, illuminated textiles.

A celebration of spirited ingenuity, the ICFF 2016 is a vitamin shot directly into the creative plexus. This year’s lightly humor-filled offerings scored high on the designers’ Richter scale, shaking up conventional perceptions and reminding us that imagination is boundless and certainly not withering on the vine.