At imm cologne 2024, we presented the new products and highlights of the TECTA 2024 collection at our new space in the Design Post Cologne. We enjoyed the dialogue with you and received valuable input, thank you very much for your visit! And for all those who have not yet had the opportunity: you are cordially invited to discover the space in Cologne – it’s worth it.

You can visit the Design Post at any time during regular opening hours.

We were delighted to present the new, innovative Reversal Chair, which we developed in a long and close collaboration with Swiss designer Juri Roemmel. The highlight – thanks to a folding mechanism, the chair allows two sitting positions. A classic one with a backrest and one as a kneeling chair for an upright, back-friendly sitting posture. There have already been many exciting sitting experiences during imm. Try it out – we look forward to hearing about your experiences.

The further development of our wickerwork with innovative materials and contemporary colours is a matter close to our hearts. The focus during development: textile cosiness, high seating comfort and durability. The new materials, precisely woven from 16 or 32 threads, combine all of this. For us, this step opens up a new era of woven Tecta cantilever chairs.

Sincerely
Christian Drescher and the TECTA team

Photos: Mildred Maass & Miriam Kothmeier

The dominant form in the Circles installation on the theme of Hospitality is the roof, “as the purest form of welcoming,” according to Marco Dessí. The installation demonstrates the original, atmosphere-creating handling of materials and semi-finished products from various fields. The Vienna-based designer creates a temporary stage set for furniture, a backdrop, and a projection surface for interpretations and ideas about a sustainable future. The protagonists on this stage are the furniture and lights designed by Studio Dessi. Hospitality in Dessi’s interpretation is also shaped by cultural traditions and artistic impulses. The installation resembles a pavilion in the midst of a (trade fair) landscape, attracting visitors like a magnetic landmark.

Marco, imm cologne has invited you to create an installation on the theme of Hospitality that is inspiring and forward-looking. What were the biggest challenges for you?
The task was to create a situation that represents an invitation to linger – at IMM almost synonymous with homeliness. At the same time, sustainability is a fundamental requirement for our work. We took the idea of a temporary installation very seriously and tried to create something truly temporary for these 4 days without producing a lot of waste. We particularly wanted to avoid illusionistic architecture that symbolizes a sustainable lifestyle without actually being sustainable and circular. We attempted to address these challenges through an unusual choice of materials and reducing the transport effort. Our installation is light, collapsible, and can be easily installed elsewhere. Themes that run like a common thread through our work.

What does this solution look like – both formally and materially?
In my opinion, the theme of Hospitality is best conveyed through the idea of a roof/shelter over one’s head, as the purest form of welcoming. That is the core idea of the installation. With a widely recognizable roof, we create a spatial situation within the exhibition hall that almost magnetically attracts visitors – like a pavilion in a park landscape that all paths lead to. The solution is an inflatable roof of large volume that can have a significant presence even in the trade fair context, yet takes up little space when deflated and is easy to transport – it weighs only 16 kg and fits on half a Euro pallet! The roof somewhat resembles a donut …

Yes, there are ambiguities. It is more the idea of a roof than a closed, hermetic roof. The opening in the middle that gives the impression of a donut forms a patio through which light falls into the interior. The material of the roof is also translucent and reminiscent of frosted glass, connecting the gesture of an architectural element, such as a glass roof. Finally, with the light flowing through the patio, references to James Turrell’s Skyscape are also made. The circular arrangement of the loungers reinforces the effect and invites conversations.

The manner of suspension, on the other hand, seems to evoke a hot air balloon, doesn’t it?
This image is consciously present as well. The delicate suspension creates the impression of a floating roof that is part of a modern, futuristic pavilion – with associations to a hot air balloon that takes visitors on a journey. Above all, with the suspension, everything came together for us: Our luminaire Cima, developed a few years ago for Lodes, served as the perfect “hook” with its cable system to show how creatively and unconventionally products can be used.

The same seems to apply to the handling of materials when looking at the walls of the installation.
Exactly, that is also very important to us. The installation tests and demonstrates a different approach to plastics. Here, we work with semi-finished products from the construction industry. The walls are clad with embossed acrylic glass panels, which are actually used for roofing garages or carports. They are sponsored and returned to the manufacturers as borrowed panels. Only through the lighting does the prism-like, weather protection surface achieve a high-quality, almost crystalline appearance. The foil of the roof is a projection foil that, with its properties, is reminiscent of sandblasted glass when repurposed. We are experimenting here with a reinterpretation of beauty. The installation shows where beauty can be found everywhere and aims to sensitize people to look at materials from a different context with new eyes – in my opinion, one of the most original tasks of design.

Do you expect this aesthetic to be understood by everyone?
Polarization can be a very productive part of inspiration. As a concept space and as a projection surface for the ideas of visitors, “Welcome to stay” can become a topic of conversation for Circles and stimulate discourse. That is a fundamental idea of Circles. The installation works with semi-finished materials and a semi-finished aesthetic, so it must leave room for interpretation. Only through discourse is it completed. Therefore, the meditative-oracular work “Sea of Stories” by Quirin Krumbholz fits so well with our installation, the artist, designer, and architect working in Vienna. It will stand on the glass table and complement our idea. We understood the commission to design this installation as an invitation to address the future with our means – not only that of the trade fair but of all of us.

If the installation with the roof and surrounding walls forms a stage set, what role do the furniture play?
The invitation from imm cologne is a very exciting opportunity for us to apply our design philosophy to an interior design theme. The installation follows the context from which I draw inspiration – usually a technical one, as can be seen in the Cima lamp, which originated from observing mast lamps on sailboats. The D70 Lounge Chairs from Tecta and the 520 upholstered chairs from Thonet are the main actors on a stage that is temporary and nomadic. Our furniture plays the role of actors representing longevity.

Photos: Constantin Meyer Fotografie