- Upholstery with wraparound shapes, furniture of the Pantone colour of the year, Xavier Mariscal venturing into traditional style, metallic coatings for contract, mattresses with graphene, and elite decoration bathrooms. All this as from Monday at the Feria Hábitat Valencia.
With just a few days before the Feria Hábitat Valencia opens its doors, the exhibiting firms and companies begin to reveal their novelties and the collections that they will present from 9th to 13th February, many of which represent firsts for the Spanish market and even at an international level. Indeed, the repositioning of Hábitat adjacent to Cevisama in the first third of the year is the reason why companies are choosing this event as a launch platform for their new collections and products. This was the case at last year’s inauguration of See You in Valencia and the situation has recurred this year with the presentation of as many as a hundred novelties.
It is in this manner that Hábitat immerses itself in the circuit of international trade fairs, which in the early months of the year revealed the habitat aesthetics that would set trends throughout 2015. Their common denominator is a softer and lighter essence that is adaptable to the habitat on which the user moulds his/her surroundings… and not the other way around. The house is given friendly natural colours without loudness, which is very much in keeping with marsala (halfway between purplish red and burgundy) which has been chosen as the fashionable Pantone® colour for this year.
The Valencia Trade Fair and business events of this type in general do not fail to reflect the ambition to set trends or to reveal them, if you like. This is the position of the Hábitat 2015 exhibitors so as to show the professional the essence of their brands.
Such is the case of avant-garde companies such as Capdell which are constantly evolving towards contemporary proposals. This firm presents at Hábitat collections as interesting as the Plum series from the northern Claesson, Koivisto, and Rune that include a chair, an armchair, and a sofa with welcoming curvaceous combinations. These products are along the same lines as the Lua armchair of La Cubitera for Koo, which has a strong personality and wraparound volume. Even the always austere Francesc Rifé proposes his new Must sofa collection that leaves an opening for modularity. For its part, the ‘top’ Andreu World proposes at Hábitat its new upholstered armchair Alya by its spearhead team, Liévore Altherr Molina. It is precisely a product that has recently been released in marsala, the colour of the year.
The return to Hábitat in style of Viccarbe is also of great significance. It returns to offer a very special tribute to the Belgian Maarten Van Severen, the icon of firms such as Vitra, and through which Víctor Carrasco vindicates the merging of steel structures and seats that look extremely comfortable. Moreover, it is courtesy of Viccarbe that one of the greatest contemporary designers, the Israeli Arik Levy, has slipped into Hábitat. He continues his love affair with all things made in Spain with his new Platform line of seats, which in his own words afford ”emotional and physical comfort”.
Innovation & contract for habitat
At Hábitat it has been possible to contextualise the latest advances in products and solutions for the complex world of the specifier, thus breaking down the fine dividing line between design and contract. In this universe not only trends but also more functional technical requirements arise, and firms such as Actiu complement this perfectly. An example is its new line of ‘soft seating’ products that help to transform workspaces, or the innovative Wing chair designed by the Ramos & Bassols studio, in the manufacturing of which technology based on gas injection is used.
In the same manner companies such as Cement Design propose tangential experiences in what is being projected as furniture equipment, and will present for the Spanish market its new metallic coatings that have won awards from the community of French architects that is the ArchiDesignClub. Traditional companies also feature such as Denoi Colchones from Alicante, which is capable of presenting the first mattress to include a material with infinite applications such as graphene. This combination of materials is also proposed by the Valencia company Nácher, which incorporates the innovative material Neolith in the covers of its new collection of tables.
The contract world evidently encourages innovation. In this sense it is good to see the emergence of a firm such as Perfil Muebles that is brave enough to combine extruded aluminium, wood, and textiles for its Cubox shelf programme. This is along the same lines as the ever interesting outdoor collections of a firm as Mediterranean as Point, which applies the plaiting of synthetic fibre to wood such as teak.
Traditional products are vindicated
Hábitat is also the home of traditional products and elite decoration, which has always been the case. Because this sector also suggests its own style code, which is perhaps more adventurous than many others. Who else would venture to use empire style in a bathroom? Picó has done so in a venture that heralds success such as that it has had in the past with the kitchen.
Some put their faith in going one step further in the most classical style. Back to our roots as Soher has announced, or perhaps approaching our most contemporary creations such as Tecni Nova, Amboán, and Contradictions. Some such as Mariner remain loyal to their spirit. And some, for example, set new limits by daring to match the drive of Xavier Mariscal with the most classical furniture. Canella has done just that. With what result? Wait for Monday at the Feria Hábitat Valencia to find out.
