Trend Forum Function & Component
TREND FORUM FUNCTION & COMPONENTS FURNITURE IN CHANGE – SHIFTING BOUNDARIES
At the Function & Components Trend Forum, we aim to give you a look ahead into our near future and outline how the fittings and lighting industry is harnessing innovation to prepare for the years to come. A total of five key themes will be presented inside the following areas of the special event, indicated by coloured circles: CIRCULAR DESIGN INNOVATION & LIGHT FURNITURE IN CHANGE NO FITTING NEW AESTHETICWe’ll be pushing the boundaries in each of these areas. In preparation for this special event, we’ve been giving a lot of thought and attention to circular design and the much-talked-of concept of sustainability. Koelnmesse GmbH supported by byform productdesign
INNOVATION & LIGHT
In this area of the special event, we will present a winner of the Green Product Award, a winner of the interzum award and innovations of a kind that have never been seen before. Light has always been a vital resource in our lives. We use it everywhere and find increasing enjoyment from the emotional impact of fabulous lighting effects. Until now, this use of light has relied on energy.By taking a playful approach, the products exhibited here will show how their use saves energy – or, better still, doesn’t consume more energy than they generate. You’ll also find a wonderful example of invisible and intelligent design among the exhibits. Discover how, as early as the tool design stage, materials and, in turn, resources can be used more efficiently.Let the light guide you to the innovations!
FURNITURE IN CHANGE
The events of recent years have led to dramatic changes in many aspects of our lives. Architecture is changing, prompting changes in interiors and lifestyles as well. The way we live together is evolving, furniture is being transformed, and the little things that hold everything together – the fittings – are changing, too.How can new products support these changes? The fresh and daring innovations showcased here offer potential answers to the challenges of the near future.How will we work at home? How will we store our belongings? In what form will furniture be transported? Will everything be easier in the future, as Italo Calvino predicted in his “Six Memos for the Next Millennium” back in 1959?
NO FITTING
We want to explore and, of course, push boundaries. Join us as we look at the rapid development in 3D printing technology.Where will this development lead us? Will everything soon be produced with the help of a printer and, perhaps, even right where it’s needed? No more waiting times, no more stock held in storage and fewer deliveries, digital products at the touch of a button? 3D printing will speed up many processes, and this technological development may deliver benefits such as flexibility and the ability to implement ideas spontaneously.Or are we finding our way back to a “new simplicity” in which fittings are no longer essential? Intelligent implementation rather than backward-looking concepts. No more than necessary, no less than practicable.
NEW AESTHETIC
We have presented the four key themes CIRCULAR DESIGN, INNOVATION AND LIGHT, FURNITURE IN CHANGE and NO FITTINGS. In this fifth area of the special event, NEW AESTHETICS, you will find a summary of the key themes along with a selection of products already in use.In the other areas, we’ve shown you how fittings and products are set to change. As designers, we believe that this change will be revealed through new-look products.There’s an important new objective when it comes to the use of materials and components. Ideally, their use will save resources and enable reuse.Isn’t it fascinating when these positive aspects can be seen in the products themselves? The focus is not on how easy they are to clean, but on how natural they are. A new material quality that can be seen and loved.
CIRCULAR DESIGN
In this circle, our partners have thought about how, in the near future, it will be possible to design more and more products that can meet the demands of a circular economy.Two considerations are crucial when it comes to ensuring that products can be recycled in the future: the choice of materials and the ability to disassemble or separate the individual product components.Assemble, click, take apart. Visit this area of the special event and see for yourself how a number of innovations have already been launched that will have a lasting impact on the range of products that we’re familiar with today. Experience Superwood and circularity in detail here.
ELEKTRA
LD 8228 – Innovation with high sustainability standards Less is more - is the credo of the LED-light, with the minimized design and a glare-free, powerful lighting can be reduced to the essentials. The ring light is characterized by a significantly lower use of material and at the same time the highest “less waste”effect compared to conventional spots. Uncomplicated retrofitting, assembly and disassembly of the minimalist surface-mounted luminaire are further advantages.Like the light itself, the ribbon cable is simply glued on and can be removed without leaving any residue when dismantling. Furniture and surfaces remain undamaged in contrast to screw fastenings or milling, which occurs when using most surface-mounted or recessed spotlights.
EVABOX
EVABOX is a leading manufacturer of solid wood dovetail drawers and accessories. EVABOX focus is about quality, sustainabilityand creativity.In our production processes we use environment friendly and sustainable materials like water-based varnish, recycled cardboard for packaging and etc.Most of the hardwood material used in our production is from FSC certified forests and only from reliable suppliers who have verified quality certificates. As a progressive and growing business, we sincerely care about the environment, sustainability and the quality of EVABOX.We’re thrilled to announce that we’ll be showcasing EVABOX products at our special exhibition, because these high-quality manufactured products stand for a durable and therefore sustainable product.
HALEMEIER
Study case – indoor energy harvesting by .halemeier Indoor energy harvesting is already state of the art technic and available in wall switches and remote control units with low power consumption.The high efficient Halemeier AvanTech Illumination system with its rechargeable battery is the perfect companion for this type of power supply. During the operation of the drawer its battery is being drained, another one is being placed within a charging port and independently recharged by daylight. Once the battery of the Avan Tech Illumation is fully discharged, full and empty batteries are swapped.
Holzdesign Kitzmüller
Holzdesign Kitzmüller expands the hardware industry with a cabinet connector that we would like to introduce at this special show.The cabinet connector “DÜBELKLEMME”, – saves the energy expenditure for carcass presses for assembling furniture cabinets – enables an almost tool-free assembly (very interesting for the do-it-yourself furniture industry). – is the smallest fitting in connection with conventional environmentally friendly wooden dowels (very little use of metal) – does not contain plastic – and can be produced with very little energy input.When we look at the special showcase to see what the hardware industry will be dealing with in the near future, Kitzmüller’s “DÜBELKLEMME” will help to use less material and make assembly and handling faster and more efficient.
Schwinn
The new handle collection from Schwinn presents a handle series, pluggable and dismountable the design approach from the beginning. Dismantlability of individual materials, which can then be returned to the cycle sorted by type. Thus the thought!The base is made of ZAMAK- an alloy of zinc, aluminum, magnesium and copper. The advantage of this is less temperature during casting (below 400 degrees), thus less CO2 emissions and 100 % recyclable.For powder coating we work with a new wet painting plant. Here the exhaust air is cleaned by our new bioreactors.Of course, the best would be ZAMAK raw, we could also imagine this borderline at Schwinn. The end customer can then get ready for the “New Aesthetic”.The wood part is untreated oak from sustainable forestry. From Schwinn’s point of view, pluggable solutions will come into play in the future.
COSMA
Furniture and kitchen design are being reimagined. Environmental responsibility is increasingly the central focus. Designers, planners and manufacturers are assuming growing responsibility towards the environment.But they often find themselves confronted with the limits of genuinely sustainable action today. Using a mono-material front in kitchen units still poses many difficulties for the industry. Growing numbers of sustainable materials are appearing on the market, but they often lack industrial scalability.The interchangeable frame presented here was developed as part of a cooperation between COSMA and byform produktdesign. The idea at the heart of this development was to design a frame made from aluminium, ideally in its virgin form, that makes it possible to use new sustainable materials. These materials do not require any additional sealing and are often used in narrower panel thicknesses. With this development, panel materials can be inserted into a protective frame and removed and replaced at any time.A mono-material and circular innovation.
HÄFELE
More personality, experience and flexibility (with existing undermount drawer runners) in open and openable cabinets and tall units. HÄFELE provides the concealed-runner drawer system for use with panels. An unlimited variety of materials and combinations is possible. In the model displayed here, the Superwood material developed by Sofia Souidi is paired with the natural-fibre product OrganiQ by Rockenhausen. Circular design, perfected.This development can lend a kitchen an individual touch, especially in open and openable cabinet elements and tall units. In addition, the new technological approach enables internal drawers of the slenderest and purist designs ever, creating additional storage space.In particular in open units, the system provides new possibilities for configuring and combining different drawer types. It is a concept that impresses both visually and practically. When paired with open and translucent rear and side panels, light can create a completely new effect in drawers.
Hera
The Wireless-T wireless and battery-free door contact switch generates its energy autonomously through mechanical actuation alone. mechanical actuation alone. This saves time and resources during installation, as no complex cabling is required. cable laying is necessary. Regular battery replacement is also unnecessary. A sustainable and environmentally friendly innovation from Hera.The nominated entry “Door contact switch Wireless-T” shows how a mix of sustainability, design and innovation can reconcile a good lifestyle with a more sustainable future. Nils Bader, Director Green Future Club & Initiator Green Product Award.BACK-LINE the new shelf back lighting. In combination with the adhesive Hera power supply, BACK-LINE can be easily installed in any position and in any piece of furniture. Thanks to the integrated spring contacts, assembly can be carried out without tools.
Hettich is forging new paths!
In collaboration with Rosenheim Technical University of Applied Sciences, Hettich is pushing boundaries at the special event. With an approach that is open to innovation, the company is pursuing the question of how wardrobes can be transported in parts that are as small as possible. This is a way to minimise transport volumes and implement sustainable concepts that are fit for the future.Wall-E Captivates with its individuality and adapts to every stage of life:– New sustainable materials – Easy to transport and assemble – A wardrobe for every stage of life – Modular and expandable – Lightweight and sustainable design
LISOCORE, Pyrus Panels
LISOCORE® is a sustainable, frameless and structural wood-based panel from PYRUS PANELS. PEANUT® CORE is a strong, invisible and tool-free connector for structural lightweight panels by INTELLIGENT FIXINGS.Thanks to the symbiosis, the innovative solution was awarded the INTERZUM AWARD 2023 Best of the Best. Together they form an optimal solution for the production of furniture and interior fittings.
Zimmer Group
Is PET more environmentally friendly? – YES! Light, durable, safe and with a smaller carbon footprint than alternatives. PET is the most recyclable plastic in the world and therewith inspired ZIMMER Soft-close to do walk this line. This unique material is vitally important and gives our damper a significant advantage for our environment and the sustainability of our economy.PET is the preferred for plastic solutions as it’s 100 % recyclable and highly sustainable. It can be recovered and recycled into new products again and again, reducing the number of resources wasted.PET is very durable and guaranties the lifetime of our damper with min. 100.000 Cycles!
LISOCORE, Pyrus Panels
FORESCOLOR, manufacturer of high-quality, dense fibreboards, presents itself at the special show in combination with an innovative hardware system, the KEILVERBINDER. This interaction underlines the noticeable trend to think of furniture and products as pluggable, changeable, detachable and almost tool-free.The KEILVERBINDER reinterprets the proven dovetail principle. It combines the aesthetic requirements of a concealed, detachable connecting fitting with a multitude of efficient application options for furniture, shopfitting, trade fair construction, acoustic construction, lightweight construction and shelving systems. The KEILVERBINDER uses the homogeneous, stable FORESCOLOR material directly as a connecting counterpart. Concealed, invisible connecting receptacles are milled directly into the panel, the counterparts can be mounted without tools and removed just as easily. Exemplified by the two flexible presentation displays designed by Julius Laabs, STUDIO OUTTA SPACE.On the plug-in panel below, another combination is shown, the KEILVERBINDER combined with FUNDERMAX biofibre, which is made of 100 % sustainable, certified wood, without any glue. This sustainable interaction creates a special look. Here exemplified by the wall construction “Eden Spaces” a new, modular construction system from ACKERMANN GMBH. If we increase the use of natural materials in the future, we will achieve a new aesthetic.
ninka
Compared to conventional waste collection sets, the one2four sets made of recyclate has: – a 50 % lower carbon footprint, – at least 80 % recycled content, – and a “BLUE ANGEL” certification.eins2vier is a waste collection system that is integratable into almost any pull-out application, particularly robust and durable and used millions of times by end customers without complaint. The eins2vier waste collector systems are made from “post-consumer waste”, e.g.: yogurt pots, bottles & bottle caps, food trays & further packaging and other waste made from polypropylene plastic. These are collected, separated, sorted and washed in Germany. In complex compounding processes, recyclate of tested quality is produced from them. Our recyclate waste collector sets consequently consist of the waste that has previously been separated and collected in a user-friendly waste collector system such as eins2vier
Meet the future with Threespine® ID
Threespine ID – Inclined Dowel – is a brand-new locking system that makes furniture assembly exceptionally fast and easy with secure and reliable results – every time. This innovative solution makes assembly of different types of furniture up to ten times faster than traditional methods. You simply click the pieces together, without the need of fittings, tools or glue.The inclined dowels and the newly developed locking device lock the panels and secures an extremely strong and durable connection. The locking components are integrated in the panels during production and assures a solid and secure result – regardless of factory assembly or RTA. Production is based on the industry’s traditional drilling methods to ensure easy implementation and avoid major changes in the design and manufacturing stages.Threespine ID creates several sustainable opportunities. The unique and easy way to disassemble a product makes it possible to include the entire product life cycle in the design process. This facilitates the creation of versatile furniture that are changeable in form and function, easy replacement of parts, extended product longevity and smooth recycling.
lindauer, Wagner, Mark3D, Palmberg
NO FITTING - EVERYTHING IS PRINTED - this is an almost provocative statement, since the special show is all about fittings and connections. Nevertheless, in view of the rapid development in the field of 3D printing, we cannot do without this topic.In the meantime, products, objects, furniture and even houses are being printed. 3D printers are being used in more and more industries, but the fact that the furniture industry is also increasingly interested in manufacturing products with 3D printers in the future is growing steadily. Even if only the beginnings have been made, the potential is great and offers good forecasts for the future. It even seems extremely likely that in the coming years more and more furniture manufacturers will try to manufacture their products digitally will also try to manufacture their products digitally. The advantages are obvious, because 3D printers enable an almost infinite number of design possibilities and offer a high degree of flexibility, such as the online production of turned parts. This development can also have a positive impact on production costs. We see great potential in 3D printing for the furniture industry.MARK 3D provides us with an example of a 3D printer and shows innovative and current printing results in the area of 3D printing fittings. Lindauer AG shows a shelf with specially developed solid wood screws and manages without gluing or other materials. Wagner will present the 3D printed stool by Hadi Teherani and Palmberg will show applications for the office sector with its virtually fog-free boxes. Our NO FITTING exhibition area shows selected products that manage without fittings in various ways.
sunne
During our preparations for the special show, we became aware of Marjan van Aubel, a designer from the Netherlands. She has been working in the field of SolarDesign for years, developing furniture and products that promise an additional benefit besides the expected function. Marjan van Aubel’s goal is to use all surfaces of furniture, products, windows, etc. in such a way that they can generate energy for everyday use. An example of her work we show with the lamp sunne, which can be charged by the sun during the day and illuminates the room with an atmospheric light in the evening.Using solar panels in everyday products as well still needs a lot of development, but solar designers and manufacturers are working on making solar panels so beautiful that people really want to have them. Because beautiful sola products we would buy and could give the existing surfaces still a use on the way. For example, the company Kameleon Solar is also developing completely different façade panels for buildings. They are designed in such a way that the solar panels add aesthetic value in addition to their photovoltaic function. The result will be a new aesthetic in architecture.
lindauer, Wagner, Mark3D, Palmberg
NO FITTING - EVERYTHING IS PRINTED - this is an almost provocative statement, since the special show is all about fittings and connections. Nevertheless, in view of the rapid development in the field of 3D printing, we cannot do without this topic.In the meantime, products, objects, furniture and even houses are being printed. 3D printers are being used in more and more industries, but the fact that the furniture industry is also increasingly interested in manufacturing products with 3D printers in the future is growing steadily. Even if only the beginnings have been made, the potential is great and offers good forecasts for the future. It even seems extremely likely that in the coming years more and more furniture manufacturers will try to manufacture their products digitally will also try to manufacture their products digitally. The advantages are obvious, because 3D printers enable an almost infinite number of design possibilities and offer a high degree of flexibility, such as the online production of turned parts. This development can also have a positive impact on production costs. We see great potential in 3D printing for the furniture industry.MARK 3D provides us with an example of a 3D printer and shows innovative and current printing results in the area of 3D printing fittings. Lindauer AG shows a shelf with specially developed solid wood screws and manages without gluing or other materials. Wagner will present the 3D printed stool by Hadi Teherani and Palmberg will show applications for the office sector with its virtually fog-free boxes. Our NO FITTING exhibition area shows selected products that manage without fittings in various ways.
Hettich is forging new paths!
In collaboration with Rosenheim Technical University of Applied Sciences, Hettich is pushing boundaries at the special event. With an approach that is open to innovation, the company is pursuing the question of how wardrobes can be transported in parts that are as small as possible. This is a way to minimise transport volumes and implement sustainable concepts that are fit for the future.Wall-E Captivates with its individuality and adapts to every stage of life:– New sustainable materials – Easy to transport and assemble – A wardrobe for every stage of life – Modular and expandable – Lightweight and sustainable design
