AMBIENTE 12.-16.02.2010 in Frankfurt

Source: expo-port team

Adieu tristesse! The slogan of a Cologne outdoor and balcony items exhibitor at the Ambiente – gusto products & service GmbH – fits into the overall picture: cheerful and overwhelming. Not to be omitted: The celebration of 300 Years of German Porcelain!
93 countries at the Ambiente - never had there been so many! The trade-show administration in Frankfurt seems to be quite happy with the results, considering the crisis: 4.504 exhibitors had come, 25 more than the year before. Visitor numbers have decreased; more than 133,000 have found their way, defying the cold…, the year before it had been more than 136,000. The exhibitors that have been interviewed considered the results satisfying up to good.

 

2010 ©Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH  Jean-Luc Valentin

Living – a strong sector:
Trends in the Interior Decoration Halls 8-11:  cool vs. lighthearted

- Coolness:
In shape and colour, using  achromatical tones, grey, black, lots of silver and white, angular shapes that are  geometrically clean  –  or define „cool“ in the sense of ultra elegant and truly uncomfortable period furniture that urges the user into posture -  truly nowadays not a bad idea! Highly elegant period furniture with velvet covering could be seen at Elgin - Vicomte de Castellane from France.
Thus, many small sofas and chairs with perpendicular and really high seat backs, reminiscence of the last centuries beginning.
Ethanol fuelled fire-places are the very new trend and seem to definitely replace the traditional wood heated fire-place. Aesthetically pure, clean and inodorous, truly small and easy to fit almost any household: Alfra in Hall 9.0, Bio-Blaze©, the Cologne Radius -Design, Wodtke Edelkamine (all in Hall 11.0) are elegantly conquering the customer’s interest.
- Truly lighthearted:
Country houses of the Provence, Britain, Netherlands, the USA, Used Look, Antique Look, delicate colours, small patterned and – flowered in rose pink, light blue, soft green, spring colours combined with rustic furniture in used look, all these trends could be seen, too, at the small pocelain exhinbtions outside the dining sector.
House Doctor from Denmark displayed an absolutely enchanting and tasteful block stand; delightfully optimistic were the Mimex /Pipstudio block from the Netherlands!
The bags and purses of the Australian manufacturer Envirosax, a recycling product sold in shops in 57 countries.
- Vintage, Country Look and Ecological: Halo from Hongkong came with a great and lovely decorated stand, Bauholz design, Nature and Style from Germany, who use construction timber or raw wood in the colours nature or variecoloured or the beautiful vintage mosaique cement-tiles of Viaplatten from Germany.

2010 ©Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH  Jean-Luc Valentin

Trend-Materials:

- The Fur and Stone-Look: used on bags, blankets, cushions and – slightly decadent – with fur veneered furniture (beautiful high-end interpretation by Halo from Hongkong).
Sofisticated interior wall coverings could be seen at Total Stone or Stones like Stones from Germany (Hall 9.0) highly developed for climatic needs, but giving a stylish tribute to the sixties and seventies.
- Felt: plain and coloured, starting with a funny tv-remote-control-bag to be hooked onto the ironing-board (side by side, Caritas, Munich) up to the ethereous and delicate sculptural lampshade designs of Peta-Lee from Johannesburg.
- Moulded textiles and textile-on-textile applications, textile lampshades: the new look! Very much in cream or white, all ranges of plissé-techniques, by chemical treatment or handmade. Suzusan from Düsseldorf, Germany implements the traditional Japanese Shibori-handmade to create incredibly sofisticated shapes. Minimum Design by Alexandra Tsoukala, Greece, showed lamps waving daringly like volatile skirts in white and red. Tactile Textiles by Karen Hong displayed moulded textiles in almost any refined shape and colour giving infinite way to phantasy.
- The Ecological Trend: the use and recycling of ecologically and ethically relevant materials – elegantly interpreted – are more and more insight of high-end productions, as are the Duralmond/ Stones like Stones wall coverings or the Proganic-fibres from Propper, in Germany.

2010 trends ©Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH Pietro Sutera

The World at the Ambiente

A street at the Frankfurt fairground is called “Path of the Nations“. There is a strong reason: since many years, the Ambiente traditionally invites country blocks to join the fair, who under the protection of their ministries and external trade department encourage manufacturers and exhibitors to come.Italy, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Switzerland and, of course, the Asian countries face among the most represented foreign exhibitors. Africa, Japan and the Netherlands came up with outstandingly beautiful blocks in the Living sector, displaying national identity with understatment through materials and design. Turkey, USA, the Emirates and Russia showed most generous blocks with a huge number of exhibitors.
Of course, not everbody can be mentioned here.
Japan – Japan was present as well in Hall 1.2 dining, in Hall 11.1 living and in Hall 11.0 loft. At the latter, for instance, the Japanese block was enormeous, showing many exhibitors united by the Japanese External Trade Association: with small and practical accessories, for the man, for the kitchen, the meal or lighting - high-end, exclusive and sophisticated.
Africa - In Hall 8.0, the round pavillion Afrique Authentique drew the attention with its displayed handmade and processed textiles. In Hall 11.0 there was a huge block with many refined products, ingeniously detailed and of high quality.
From Master Wires&Bead Craft, Bishop Tarambawamwe, for instance, assured me to be really pleased having accomplished unexpectedly good contacts to Arabic countries and to Russia. His stand displayed most refined and sophisticated beautifully handcrafted lamps and smaller decorational objects.
The Netherlands – came up with a great number of different stands. The extravagant and elegant Eichholtz, for instance, who calls himself most appropriately Master of Complications: mirror finished boat lamps or the wing of an airplane wing designed as a table with functioning original lighting.
Brasil – Under the tent associations Fazer Brasil and Apex Brasil some stands with ethnographic design items, very trendy: recycled newspaper laid in minuscule rolls and glued, used as basic material for lots of practical objects.
Latvia - in Hall 11.0, and Austria - in Hall 8.0 had smaller blocks. The Latvian was innovational, interesting and sophisticated. The Austrian, a bit disappointing, displaying simple souvenirs, as printed T-shirts or seasonal decoration.

2010 giving ©Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH  Jochen Günther

A walk through the lower halls:

Hall 8.0
Hall 8.0 at the ground floor displays interior decoration showing many smaller stands.
The most seen interior decoration items were picture frames, mirrors, paintings and drawings, house and home textiles, interior decoration proposals with rather less furniture and more accessories.
There were many outdoor decorations as sculptures, stones, pots and other big items, too: generally wholesale ware for big shops with an individualistic touch.
Portico fron Spain centred itself with a huge stand construction of beautiful taste, displaying vintage-look items in many separated small and cosy decorated  “rooms”, showing house and home textiles, cushions, blankets and decoration accessories and their typical foto frames gallery in all shapes and measures.
Cotex owned one of the very few carpet booths at this trade-show.
Hall 9.0
The beautiful vintage –look allover: A huge stand belonged to Riviera Maison from the Netherlands, the manufacturers Scholtissek, Dinger International and Eagle Product, all from Germany showed up with important booth-stands.
Hall 11.0 – Loft
Right in front of the entrance of Hall 11.0, you’d run into the huge Lambert GmbH stand of aprox. 180m², I was told, interrupted by an aisle. The Lambert GmbH had been as well at the Maison&Objet 2010 in Paris – with a smaller booth – but quite successful and said to be a bit more satisfied with the results there than at the Ambiente.
Memento from Italy showed itself with an immaculate sense of style, wonderfully different! The company, too, arrived from the Maison&Objet and considered business there slightly better.
Esprit home was present with a small but elegant lighting stand.
Side by side is coming for the 8th time to the Ambiente, they told me, and said to be “very satisfied” with the results! The Caritas-sheltered workshop offers items with a straight forward design, clear in shape, original and practical.

Concluding it must be said, that there were a lot of really passionate exhibitors, displaying outstanding designs, beautifully arranged booths with even museal character. Other stands showed routine and professionalism. The Ambiente generates its charms through an unbelievable variety and multiplicity of presentations and exhibition qualities.

2010 giving ©Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH Jochen Günther

–talents –
As every every year, the foyers as well as a whole row at hall 11.0 was dedicated to the young talents who were able to exhibit their products at very favourable fair-price conditions.
The Fountain Studio from Korea, for instance, is specialised in funny household items and presented a mop resembling to a Havanese dog… you’d only wait him to bark!
Daniel Becker presented a refined and sculptural lighting system, Stephan Gervers showed up with a fascinating stucco wall covering. Inviting and retro: the tin table with a blanked table-cloth imitation from Jakub Sobiepanek of Poland.

The Ambiente in figures:
4.504 exhibitors came this time, 25 more than last year, but 76 less than in 2008. More than133,000 visitors defied the cold weather! In the year before, there had been coming more than 136,000 and in 2008, even more than 139,000 arrived at the Ambiente.

The Ambiente 2011 will take place in February, 11th - 15th at Frankfurt am Main.

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