Think Furniture At Orgatec 2024
Day 1 - Margate > Cologne
The trip started off in a sleepy side street in Margate, 6am, a stunningly clean car and the beginning of a journey that would only be broken up by snacks and the gentle rock of our ferry in gridlock off the French coast. Memorable points on the journey include the ticket price of a toilet break in Belgium that could be cashed in as a voucher for some food in the SAME shop, an absolutely genius business model. Another high point was someone else driving. We arrived at 6pm. Immediately we went to drink beer out of enormous dog sized tankards and I ate the best steak of my life, in fact we ate so well I thought gout was a certainty. We went to bed with muddy heads but primed for the next day.
Day 2 - Orgatec
We walked across a bridge groaning with padlocks and people on electric scooters and entered a conference centre the size of Ireland, 10 separate halls all packed with furniture exhibitors. An endless horizon of wares spread out before us and they’d really packed everyone in, there were even companies displaying their products in the walkways and underneath the conveyor belts!
The first stand I stopped by was Danish brand NORR11, an absolute feast of ergonomic pleasure and flawlessly designed furniture. I became immediately enamoured by this white, opulent chair that felt like being enveloped by a thick pile carpet. A bevy of other beautifully designed classics surrounded it. Immediate high point.
If there’s such a thing as a current trend then it’s pods, places where you can call people in space-walk silence, have meetings, presentations, they’re basically mobile offices with privacy as their MO. I stopped by the FRAMERY stand, they were at the vanguard of pod production, and they had some great examples, but LATER I saw some pods where they’d incorporated a jungle theme (at the excellent ASSMAN stand) and then just to double down, a beach theme where you could make calls at work but strain to imagine you’re on holiday! The sheer glut of pods on offer was mind altering. I briefly tried out the soundproofing on a pod and literally no-one could hear my scream, I felt like a housewife in the 1950’s.
If size were important then INTERSTUHL were flying an Airbus, their stand had a sprawling square footage with drinks and mini doughnuts whizzing past the tables. They were also the ONLY company (that I came across) embracing VR and I spent a woozy 5 minutes being guided around a multi levelled universe where furniture hovered in situ. A true vision of the future.
The BUZZISPACE stall was another early favourite, please enjoy this large cap mushroom style light with the delicious material finish and they also had (what looked like) a blue bus shelter from the future which was so original it deserved several walk-arounds.
As you’re gliding around a certain sense of deja-vu does pervade but you always get jolted out of the funk coming across wonderfully curated stands like NORDGRONA, with their innovative use of moss to provide soundproofing. For touch alone this was in the must-stop position.
There was a sustainability theme that ran through Orgatec and I saw some great examples of….recycling bins from MADE DESIGN and chairs made out of a myriad of salvaged materials and even a table made out of plastic cups (from NOTI). It dovetailed into my favourite tour of duty talk over at the ICONS OF DENMARK stand where their CEO not only let us lean back on all of his chairs (explaining the thinking behind each measurement and curve) but also explaining how in one particular sofa he’d removed most of the padding and replaced it with springs just so he could meet thresholds of sustainability… It was all genuinely fascinating stuff and the sofa still felt like being lowered onto clouds. ICONS… also had a small, marbled circular side table that I wanted to put under my T-shirt and run away with.
I really liked the NOTI stand, not only did they have swinging chaise lounge style sofas (maximum weight 300 kilos yo) but they also liberally handed out cherry vodka which immediately put a dance in your step. They had a long yellow stretch sofa that we languished on, inviting in the shots the NOTI operative was feeding us.
I particularly loved this office table and chairs from BOS BARCELONA, it was like something that Michael Douglas might have sat behind in at least 4 of his films.
Other shout out’s have to go to the PEDRALI stand which was all smooth edges and impeccably designed pieces, redolent of late period Mad Men but brought up to the cutting edge present. BRUNNER had some great office appurtenances and NARBUTAS had one of the best designed stands, shaded in light army green and filled with faultless high backed sofas.
The day began to draw to a close, the steps got more sluggish, we played some Padel before eventually retiring as the people began to exit and we all skipped off for pizza and more impossibly high glasses of beer. A fantastic day.
Day 3 - Cologne > Margate
We set off early and most of the day was spent wearing sunglasses and slowly coagulating in the back of a car, occasionally sitting bolt upright when the prospect of some European food came to light. By tea-time we were back and throughout the journey I couldn’t help but look at furniture every step of the way, it was like some VR furniture veil had slipped over my eyes, even the style and practicality of the chairs in duty free came under unwitting scrutiny! My new vision is still going on now.