Interzum presents the living spaces of the future

What will living spaces look like in terms of interior design? What new possibilities do innovative materials offer in terms of functionality, technology and sustainability? Find out at Interzum from May 21-24, 2019

From May 21-24 at Kōln, Interzum aims to be the place where furniture designers and manufacturers' questions about the possibilities of new materials and technologies in the field will be answered and also to provide inspiration to those who want to shape the future of living. Product innovations in the fields of materials and surfaces, textiles, furniture components and lighting systems will be showcased. The area covered in this way includes processes with new functions in the home, lightweight construction solutions for mobile spaces and intelligent interior concepts.

Global mega-trends - living in small spaces, individualization, mobility, digitalization - are the themes addressed by top names from the furniture and interior design industry present at the fair, with the intention to find the most appropriate answers and solutions.

The fair will have over 1800 exhibitors from all over the world, divided into 3 main segments: Materials & Nature (Marials and Nature), Function & Components (Functionalities and Components) and Textiles & Machinery (Textiles and Machinery). Each will focus on showcasing new, sustainable materials and cutting-edge technologies. Today, material innovations play a key role in the design of living and working spaces. Innovative materials bring new qualities to interiors and furniture, making them more functional, flexible and intelligent. Just two examples of what you can see at this year's Interzum:

• a tackle very easy - aerowood® - registered trademark of the Austrian Schweitzer Sperholzwerk. An extremely lightweight panel, available in any size, an innovation based on the idea of saving raw materials;
• hay and moss surfaces combined with re-used Swarovski crystals, presented at the fair by the Austrian manufacturer Organoid.

Solutions from furniture manufacturers and interior designers at Interzum will revolve around the concepts of digitalization, integration, sustainability

Furniture industry suppliers at the fair will be showcasing products designed for the new, increasingly tech-dependent generations. The digitization of life, which we interact with routinely in the office, doesn't stop at the entrance to the home, but instead settles comfortably inside, with apps that make our lives easier. Lighting, heating, air circulation, turning appliances on and off, everything is becoming more integrated, more personalized. And furniture will have to keep pace with this integration.

One situation for which the participants at the fair were prepared with solutions is the migration of the population to the big cities, which has led to the emergence of ever smaller living spaces. Young people no longer need large spaces but only the bare necessities, so the interior of the home is being rewritten, redefined, and comfort must be found in even the smallest spaces. Gone are the kitchen, the bathroom and the living room as we used to know them and new, multifunctional spaces are emerging.

Redefining spaces also applies to offices. It's no longer all stark, with spaces being customized to be as pleasant as possible. Designers will come up with solutions to transform your time in the office, making it enjoyable and adapted to new trends.

Combining technology with the emotional and adapting to small spaces

This year's big challenge for the designers will be to combine the development of technology, its impersonality, with the emotions and experiences that are normal and natural for each of us. Organizers Interzum tell us that, during the fair, we are sure to find answers and solutions to these and many other problems posed by the rapid and continuous development and change of modern life. A conference by Yasmine Mahmoudieh, a guest-star in architecture with experience in the design of very small spaces, will present the requirements of such a space and the rules to be followed.

The organizers assure us that there will be many novelties and pleasant surprises at the Interzum. So, mark your calendars for May 21-24 try to get to Koelnmesse, Cologne, Germany, at least on one of the days of the exhibition.