Bologna

The Domotex in Hanover showed the full reach of what flooring can do today, ranging from stylishly designed carpet tiles and waterproof laminates through to impressive carpet artworks.

At the DOMOTEX 2015 press conference in Berlin the designer and special guest of Innovations@DOMOTEX, Roberto Palomba from Milan, and carpet designer Jan Kath met for the first time ever. The pair soon started chatting about tattoo carpets, silky clouds and doing creative work in the air. An interview by Martina Metzner.

Kortrijk’s Biennale Interieur does justice to its reputation this time. Despite the one or other error of judgment, it makes living and interiors an experience for all to enjoy.

What is of interest to a designer at a trade fair like the Domotex in Hanover? Uta Abendroth accompanied Petra Blaisse, founder of Amsterdam studio Inside Outside, on a tour of the fair and discussed traditiony, art works and inspiration with her. Oh, and good taste, as well.

The times when flooring led an existence as the Cinderella of the interior design world are over. The whole industry has discovered its creative side and carpeting has received something of an image makeover over the past few years. But wooden and laminate flooring aren’t far behind. This year, Domotex in Hanover even put on a special show on its leading theme “Flooring Deluxe”, curated by designer Stefan Diez.

The imm Cologne is swiftly getting back on an even keel. And how are designers and manufacturers making use of the opportunity? A tour of the trade fair shows that they often resorted to the tried-and-true, reanimating and dressing it up for contemporary use. Even Konstantin Grcic opted for a tongue-in-cheek approach to a design classic.

A trade fair consists of individual booths. However, this is not necessarily the best possible solution, as the new "Pure Textile" section demonstrates. There you will still find any number of light, fine, spring-fresh and elegant fabrics, but they are still all isolated. Moreover, one other thing is clear: tables and sofas are clawing their way back onto the carpet.

At the beginning of every year the trade fair imm cologne presents new international home trends. We present the list of selected manufacturers to found out which exhibitors they are, and where you can find them.