Smart, sustainable, Scandinavian design in focus at IMM Cologne

IMM Cologne, the first interiors show on the annual calendar, presents many of the trends that will define home design for the year ahead. The 2017 show will showcase innovative fabrics, smart technologies and sustainable design, among many other hot trends.

Around 1,200 companies from 50 countries are expected at the dual trade fair of IMM Cologne and LivingKitchen, which together make up a product exhibition and platform for current interior design trends. More than 100,000 pieces of furniture and furnishing items will be exhibited, and a third of those will be shown to the international market for the first time in Cologne.

Among the trends organizers have spotted for 2017 is a desire for classic forms, seen in traditional rugs that are placed in contemporary settings and sofas placed on terraces, for example.

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Scandinavian furnishings will be on display from a number of premium brands; among them, Design House Stockholm will present its products to an international audience for the first time, revealing its new Wick Chair, featuring mesh construction and a modular concept.

Green tones will also find their way into many upholsteries and textiles showcased at the fair, namely in fabric-filled presentations in the Pure Editions hall.

Among IMM Cologne's programs are The Stage, a presentation forum for which designer Poonam Choudhry will discuss designing spaces that are both sustainable and smart, and art historian Chris van Uffelen will focus on the use of wooden pallets in interior design and the ways architects and designers reuse, recycle and transform them.

Also as part of The Stage, Christine Gottwald, leader of the Colour Design Studio for paint manufacturer Akzo Nobel, will present the company's Colour Futures 2017 report, revealing the latest color trends and concepts.

The Das Haus installation is an annual highlight, simulating a residential house of about 200 square meters that is each year undertaken by a different designer. This year American designer Todd Bracher is behind the house itself as well as its furniture, colors, materials, lighting and accessories.

As a hint of what is to come, Bracher said, "We want to question our conception of what makes contemporary living by rethinking the principles that define the home and asking ourselves if they meet the requirements of the world today."

Elsewhere, a smart home construction will present solutions from participating companies offering convenience, comfort and even life-saving technology.

On January 15 and 16 beginning at 6pm, the area around the Cologne Cathedral will feature the light installation "Time Drifts Cologne II" by Berlin-based light artist Philipp Geist, which will be projected onto the western part of Cathedral Square and Roncalliplatz and the façades of the Dom Forum, the Roman-Germanic Museum and the Dom Hotel.

IMM Cologne and LivingKitchen run January 16-22.