In all the years I've been attending NeoCon at the Merchandise Mart, I've learned that change is the only constant. Exhibitors that seem to have a perennial presence stop showing up and new ones emerge to take their place. Companies merge or go out of business. And of course trends are always changing.
Change has been inevitable in the past few years. It's been interesting to see the changes that organizations have made juxtaposed with the areas in which they stubbornly remain the same. I am referring, once again, to the current trend I most despise: pretending that the pandemic is over and everything's "normal" again.
This is the way things are done nowadays, I suppose. No masks, just vibes. We are expected to live in a polite state of denial. I thought design was supposed to be about problem-solving, but how can you solve a problem when you pretend it doesn't exist? Anyway, that's a topic for another blog post. I wore both a mask and a face shield when I stopped by on Tuesday because of the approximate 99% masklessness of the crowds around me.
It was worth masking up and braving the crowds because I saw a lot of beautiful things. This year, my favorite new product was this concept from Sisyphus Industries.
You have to see this table in person to believe it. It's the perfect gift for someone who has everything. It would be a calming presence in a medical waiting room or a meditative focal point in a spa.
Akustus had my favorite booth this year. I love the way they took a mundane, utilitarian product like acoustic panels and made a bold statement with it.
Here are some other things that caught my eye:
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Interior Design magazine's space
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| Patcraft |
These were my favorite floral arrangements at NeoCon this year:
To see the rest of the photos that I took this year and full-size versions of the ones in this blog post, take a look at my Flickr album.
As usual, spending time immersed in interior design has made me eager to get started on some new projects, and I'm curious to see what changes next year's NeoCon show will bring.
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