In this issue, we touch down in four great design cities. First up is Frankfurt, where the Messe Frankfurt fairground hosts such shows as Ambiente and Light + Building. I visited in January to take in Heimtextil, the largest international fair for home and contract textiles (“Textile messages” ).
In Montreal, associate editor Rhys Phillips toured the new digs of PR firm Palm + Havas (“Nine lives” ). Though located in a historic building, it is anything but same-old-same-old. In fact, the open, interactive space has all the hallmarks of the modern office.
One design show we never miss is Maison & Objet, held twice a year at Paris-Nord Villepinte Convention and Exhibition Centre. Managing editor Erin Donnelly travelled to Paris in January to find that a fellow Canadian — prolific Karim Rashid, he of the trademark pink — was definitely having a moment (“La vie en rose” ).
In Toronto, contributing writer John Bentley Mays profiled Gow Hastings Architects, a young firm that has cornered the market on interiors for Toronto-area colleges that are anything but academic (“Class act” ). “Our personality comes out in our projects, which are playful, light-hearted,” says partner Philip Hastings. “We like to have a bit of fun in our projects.”
Three other design cities make an appearance in our What’s Up section. We anticipate our annual June trip to Chicago to cover NeoCon; swing by New York to take in Cooper-Hewitt’s Why Design Now? exhibit; and zoom up to Vancouver to check out Teknion’s revamped showroom.
Though it’s not in the issue, we also give a shout out to Halifax, where, on April 23, the Interior Designers of Canada announced a restructuring of its organization — moving the IDC from a seven-member organization of provincial associations to an association representing nearly 3,000 individual designers from coast to coast. “A strengthened IDC means the interior design community has a cohesive voice,” says newly elected president David Hanson, “which will benefit the profession in terms of advocacy and promotion, both nationally and internationally.” CI
Michael Totzke [email protected]