Design city
Frankfurt's Festhalle offered selected design majors a temporary home and a platform. As a city within a city, the first Design Annual explored new presentation methods.
Messe Frankfurt had to come down a peg or two with their new project The Design Annual. Despite high expectations, only about 9,000 private and trade visitors came to the lavishly redecorated Festhalle from May 6 to 10. The organiser had not been sparing with superlatives ahead of the event: Taking as its motto "Living, home, work: the best design of our time", the organisers heralded "unsurpassed living environments" in a "so far unique design format". To implement this, the organiser welcomed aboard Frankfurter Stylepark AG, which has been an innovator of design presentation for half a decade.
And, sure enough, the concept of this new annual show was unusual: The organisers did not have to advertise for exhibitors; it was more a case of the exhibitors applying for a space. Only the crème de la crème of design was qualified to apply and only the first 80 - including top companies like Hansgrohe, Vissmann, serien lighting, Poggenpohl Möbelwerke and nya nordiska textiles - were lucky. The space was built by the organisers ready for the premiere in line with the "urban" theme like a turnkey house that the tenants only had to move into.
The hall layout also departed from the usual straight grid: Like in an idyllic historic town centre there was a spacious market square about which small town houses were grouped in winding alleyways, so new and surprising views appeared again and again, putting visitors in a holiday mood. This was backed up with a plentiful supply of finger food for quick replenishment of depleted energy. "Guided tours" and other information events and talks by major players from the design segment such as Toyo Ito, Konstantin Grcic and Bazon Brock were held daily. The late opening hours from 12:00 to 22:00, live music, parties and other events were arranged to encourage visitors to stay longer into the evening. The next Design Annual is scheduled for June 13 to 17, 2007: "again in a new and unique format", promises Messe Frankfurt.
m+a report Nr.4 / 2006 vom 15.06.2006
m+a report vom 15. Juni 2006