Tables & Chairs at the International Furniture Fair Cologne, 18th to 24th January 1999

Furniture World Magazine

New chairs arrive on the market daily. Innumerable different new chair designs are shown in January each year in Cologne at the INTERNATIONAL FURNITURE FAIR, the world's largest furniture market and wait to be received into the circles of the great (or in the greatest numbers) or even, according to temperament, into the elite circle of the most beautiful and the most bizarre designs. Many dream of a place in the design temples of the world. They come from craftsmen and designers, from engineers, architects, from the self-taught and from design specialists. Chairs exercise a particular fascination both on their designers and on their future owners. Every designer would like, at least once in his life, to create a new chair design even though the restrictions are greater than for any other piece of furniture, namely human dimensions and suitability for use. Despite this, among the thousands of models available there are always new possibilities and fascinating ideas, even with quite traditional materials. One designer has been inspired, for instance, by glider construction and produced a beautiful, stable, light-weight creation from "intelligent wood" which weighs less than 2500 grams. Any material can be used: recycled paper, aluminum, transparent netting, wicker, the striking combination of natural wood with new translucent plastic. Again and again the look of a chair creates the desire to own it and enjoy it. In reality, all chairs fulfill the same simple purpose - to be sat upon - but chairs readily give their owners the pleasant thought that they are really on a throne. Reasons for new chairs can always be found and not just emotional ones. A new chair can also be sought for practical reasons and its predecessor superseded : a clever folding mechanism (more chairs in less storage space), professional stacking, the easy inter-changeability of seats and chair backs, inter-changeable effects with loose covers, weatherproofing (for indoor and outdoor use) or simply robustness and discretion. In other words, they fit in everywhere and are found in all walks of life. As long as people exist, chairs will be required - and the "new" will be more and more in demand. As regards tables, the double floor is currently popular. Providing a glance of a beautiful arrangement, as a storage space or be a built-in option. There is, for instance, the doubleleaf version, designed so that a large surface can be folded down to a small rectangle. Double also often means material combinations: a practical stone or steel insert for hot dishes with an elegant wooden surround. Long , strong, natural wood tables have become the undoubted darlings of designers, suppliers and their customers. Here there is a place for everyone and for everything. Natural, oiled and waxed surfaces alike can live and let live. For those who like a sense of lifestyle in furniture, this year different furniture manufacturers are showing new trestle tables. These have nothing in common with their "relations" from the days of student rooms except for their practical aspects. Tables can be trendy, elegant or unconventional, as individual as their future owners. Intensive, rich in contrasts and breathtakingly elegant, the new individual furniture items Combining the flair of distinguished salons with the spacious elegance of an ocean liner International style - inspired by the best houses in the world It is clearly the individual items of furniture which give style and atmosphere to the overall furnishings. They usually have a forceful presence and that marvelous advantage that you don't have to re-arrange the entire furniture in order to give a different emphasis. Very popular today is the "Salon Style", combining the flair of old grand hotels, spacious lobbies and exclusive private clubs. They attract us by their peace and tranquillity, their timeless stability and their seductive touch of luxury. A salon gives you an impression of leaving behind the problems of the day, of relaxing and treating oneself. You could almost use the expression "wellness" to describe this feeling. The box-office hit "Titanic", as an emotional epic film, has also given momentum to this trend. Even the decor of this legendary ocean liner pricks our romantic hearts to the core. No matter how you wish to relate this flair to your own four walls, the INTERNATIONAL FURNITURE FAIR in Cologne (from 18th to 24th January 1999), as the biggest furniture market in the world, will offer you a rich and varied range to choose from. Chest of drawers will be a major feature. They may no longer have room for trousseaux, but for those things we find beautiful or have to find again. Bureau can hide romantic secrets just as they can tax documents. Attractive display cabinets, console tables, mirrors, bookshelves, flower stands and newspaper stands ... the range of individual furniture items is wide. Occasional tables, those dumb but practical servants which make life so much easier, today play an important role again. Even the classical nests of tables are appearing on the scene again in modern look. Upholstered furniture is voluminous and comfortable, with ornamental studs sometimes used to highlight the leather or velour covering. Warm wood tones, gold-brown, reddish or deep, dark brown stained, for example, to cherry or walnut dominate in the individual items of furniture. The dark tones have the same effect as tropical mahogany, Makasser or Wenge wood, giving that added effect to gold-plated and browned surfaces, metalcoated and varnished ones, chrome, aluminum or brass - depending on which period you personally prefer. Be it turn of the century, the golden twenties or the elegant thirties with its Art Deco and Streamline, zest for living always plays a part, as do broad-mindedness and that certain international flair. The exciting thing about salon-inspired individual items or reproduction furniture is their intense aura, the richness in contrast and the beautiful interplay of masculine and feminine stylistic elements.