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A Return to Glam and Embracing New Lighting Typologies at ICFF 2016

At the 28th annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) over 35,000 attendees walked the show over the course of four days. This year the show expanded to a second floor that housed ICFF Schools, the Design Milk Pop-Up stand, Tokyo Design Week, Ho.MI Italian brands and Luxe Interiors to provide an interesting mix of custom and luxury interior objects with the experimental prototypes of students and emerging designers.

Our editors appreciated the return of the gilded age—ornate statement pieces for plush interiors glittered and gleamed on the tradeshow floor including Pelle’s flowery sconces, Larose Guyon’s chain-link chandeliers and Apparatus Studio’s dramatic and masculine pendants. Lighting designers are starting to hit their stride, embracing the technological freedom of LEDs and OLEDs—we loved CoCa’s Platypus OLED adjustable lamps, Luke Lamp Co’s rope pendants and Jason Krugman Studio’s sculptural LED chandeliers. Outdoor furniture finally gets its due attention—we look forward to a summer season on well-designed, functional furniture designed specifically for outdoor use.

This year’s student work was outstanding as well—beyond the exploratory works of schools like Parsons and Philadelphia University, the industry collaborations from RISD x Kikkerland x Container Store, RIT x Poppin and SAIC x CB2 all resulted in student-designed products entering into the retail market. 

Anna Karlin

Made locally in New York, these chairs by Anna Karlin are made of an ebony stained hard maple and are completely hand carved.

Photo credit: Core77

Anna Karlin Stools

Karlin got her start a few years ago making these geometric stools, which come in a range of materials from turned wood to cold rolled steel.

Photo credit: Core77

Hollis & Morris

These stools by Hollis & Morris can be stacked in several wacky ways.

Photo credit: Core77

A Chair for the Garden

This chair by Opiary is made of steel coated with layers of recycled, resin fortified concrete.

Photo credit: Core77

Chandelier by Tight Rope

A “bomb” customizable chandelier by Tight Rope, a Brooklyn-based studio specializing in furniture and lighting.

Photo credit: Core77

Plywood Furniture by Kino Guérin

Extravagant explorations in wood lamination by Canadian designer Kino Guérin.

Photo credit: Core77

Plywood Furniture by Kino Guérin

Extravagant explorations in wood lamination by Canadian designer Kino Guérin.

Photo credit: Core77

Wilsonart Chair Competition x College of Creative Studies

This year, plastic laminate company Wilsonart teamed up with the College of Creative Studies in Detroit for their annual chair competition tradition. This chair made of concrete and laminate was inspired by geodes.

Photo credit: Core77

Wilsonart Chair Competition x College of Creative Studies

This piece called the “En Throne” was an expertly made piece laminated in an Yves Klein blue.

Photo credit: Core77

Wilsonart Chair Competition x College of Creative Studies

The winning chair by student Stephen Marchio was a wonderfully perplexing exploration in planes and geometry laminated using bold spring pastels.

Photo credit: Core77