The whole design world descended on Paris last week for the biannual international lifestyle, décor and design trade show Maison et Objet, now in its 25th year.
On between the 17th and 21st January, the design fair was awash with the latest and the best new designs from around the globe.
Three key highlights from the show included striking modern lighting designs, eco-conscious new furniture and creative ideas from France's rising stars in design.
Green Focus
To celebrate its 25th anniversary, Maison & Objet looked to the future and set out to analyse the attitudes, desires and expectations of Generation Y and Z’s digital natives. A whole year’s celebrations will be devoted to these committed millennials who, confronted with the many current crises, are looking for a better world, changing the rules and revolutionising consumer behaviour in both the home and lifestyle sectors.
Read also:We predict that this Moroccan-inspired seating from Habitat will be big in 2020
Greenkiss is a new luxury and eco-friendly furniture brand that was launched by Hubert de Malherbe, Thierry Lemaire and Paolo Castelli.
The three seater sofa upholstered in bouclé wool, with a frame and legs in walnut stained ash are all from sustainable supply chain.
Ligne Roset, meanwhile, have been busy working with Kvadrat to develop ‘Really’ - a solid textile board made from recycled industrial textiles including end-of-life white cotton. Shown on its Le Bibliotheque Fi shelving unit by Pierre Paulin and on the ‘EVERYWHERE’ cabinet collection by Christian Werner, Ligne Roset are hoping to offer the sufacer across its much of its cabinet and shelving collections soon.
There were also many more creative projects that continued the show's regeneration theme, such as vases made of wood, and planters made from cane.
The show was brimming with pieces made from natural materials. Bistro chairs with painted-wood frames and pale cane panels, smart daybeds with perforated textures and cabinets with cane-panelled doors.
Read Also:Design Project: A Space-Saving House In Brixton
The Living collection by François Bernard celebrated all things natural.
Even rugs had a nod to nature, with moss-inspired rugs by FERREIRA DE SÁ.
Lighting
Spanish porcelain brand Lladró debuted its Nightbloom lighting design, made in collaboration with Dutch designer Marcel Wanders. The ethereal chandelier mimics a flower fluttering in the breeze. Its porcelain petals, dotted with gold luster paint, play with light and shadow.
Read Also:THE NEW LAMPS LIGHTING UP OUR WORLD
Also on display was a new design for a tripod lamp by Florence Lemoine, which was the result of a collaboration between a glass maker and a cabinetmaker.
But London based Michael Anastassiades won the prize for the show’s Designer of the Year with his creative lighting.
For this special showcase, he brought together all 16 of his Mobile Chandeliers. Super-slender strips of patinated steel improbably support glowing globes of light and gently sway, suspended from the ceiling like a mobile.
Read Also:Design insights with lighting guru michael anastassiades
Rising talent
Eyes were very much on the design show's home turf for the January 2020 edition of the Rising Talents Awards. Each edition of Maison & Objet focusses on a new generation of creatives from a specific country for its Rising Talent Awards. This year the spotlight was on France, as six French emerging designers were picked out by a jury that includes Pierre Charpin, Didier Krzentowski, Guillaume Houzé, Pierre Yovanovitch, René-Jacques Mayer and Françoise Seince.
Read Also:5 DESIGN NAMES TO KNOW NOW
René-Jacques Mayer, one of the jury members and the director of the Ecole Camondo said ‘there are currently two main trends in the young french design scene; the first is that designers are developing stronger links with craftsmanship. They are distinguishing themselves less with industrial products than with objects produced in limited quantities using traditional savoir-faire. Secondly, they are no longer interested in simply designing a chair, but develop projects that are much more societal. Their overriding aim is to solve problems and come up with new uses’.
Studio Adret founder Adrien Garcia presented a modular furniture system contained within a huge pink cuboid, pictured above.
Meanwhile design duo Natacha & Sacha reimagined electronic goods including a dehumidifier.
Their aim is try to bring a softer aesthetic to domestic products that are not typically seen as design objects.
Read Also:Livingetc's Highlights from Homi 2020
Their designs include an air humidifier that looks more like a glass vase, a ceramic data server designed to be on display and a radiator made up of suspended columns.
Wendy Andreu strives for her designs to reflect how they are made.
Materials are the central focus of Wendy Andreu's work, like this rough-textured bookshelf above, and the shelving unit below...
... and a stool comprising eight steel tubes.
Read Also:What's hot: all the interior trends for 2020
Designer Mathieu Peyroulet Ghilini showcased his love of glass and simple geometric forms.
-
9 Ingredients for 'Elevated Bed Rot' — The Chicest Way to Do Nothing at AllA Diet Coke hits different in a martini stem
-
Candles vs Diffusers — A Fragrance Expert Shares Which Style of Home Scenting Works (and Looks) the BestThey might serve the same purpose, but candles and diffusers vary in fragrance intensity and overall style. So which one should you choose?
-
The simple way to a more sustainable and stylish life with Fisher & PaykelThis incredible new tech saves time, energy and has become the washing machine you need to know about
-
Forget Cottagecore - Flora Fantasia by House of Hackney is Cottage hardcoreHouse of Hackney's Flora Fantasia collection blends the romanticised rural aesthetic with riotous punk elements
-
Bert & May's new hexagon tiles collection is tapping into one of this year's biggest micro trendsTap into the microtrend for hexagon tiles and make myriad patterns with this new collection from Bert & May
-
Matthew Williamson’s tip for renovating a house on a budget is so simple, but incredibly effectiveRenovating a house on a budget? See the savvy ways to control costs when managing an interior redesign
-
The fabulous new Matthew Williamson furniture collection is a cocktail of color and printThis decorative Matthew Williamson furniture is the beautiful result of collaboration with Roome London
-
Out & Out's new furniture collection is full of stylish storage solutionsThis stylish storage will have your home organised in a jiffy - whatever its size
-
Explore Sandra Bullock’s former coastal chic home in GeorgiaSandra Bullock has just sold her beautiful island beach house, giving us a glimpse at her coastal-inspired interior style.
-
Stylish flat pack furniture - how this home design staple has suddenly got coolThought flat pack furniture was cheap and cheerful? FUZL Studio is proving otherwise with its new collection
