Just a few weeks to go now until interzum 2011 opens its doors at Cologne Exhibition Centre from 25th to 28th May. Around 1,400 exhibitors will be presenting their latest innovations to visitors from all over the world. But interzum has far more to offer than the pure product exhibitions – a whole series of special presentations, piazzas and thematic focal points spread throughout the fair are guaranteed to make the trade show even more attractive and encourage a lively exchange of ideas.

Light and materials at the innovation of interior forum

For the second time, Hall 4.2 will be hosting the innovation of interior forum, the new attraction for architects, designers and product developers with a special focus on light and materials. In addition there is an information area, a lounge, speech and meeting zone and compact, pre-specified presentation spaces for prestigious companies that form a perfect unit both visually and thematically. The declared aim of innovation of interior is to encourage eye-level communication at state-of-the-art level with partners who share the same aims and values. Koelnmesse has signed up two genuine pros to stage innovation of interior: “2 creative heads” are in charge of implementing the forum. Prof. Hartmut A. Raiser is responsible for the theme of materials/finishes, Antonius Quodt is overseeing everything connected with light. With innovation of interior, interzum is mainly appealing to planners and creatives, who already indicated great interest in the show back in 2009. In total, every third trade visitor stated in the 2009 survey that he liked innovation of interior. The Carpentry Forum, which is being held together with carpentry association Fachverband Tischlerhandwerk Nordrhein-Westfalen and will open at 10:00 on 28th May, is specifically aimed at craftsmen. There will also be various other attractive accompanying events and first-rate lectures in this dedicated area. In addition, May 27th has been declared Interior Architects Day. A day earlier, on May 26th, industrial designers’ association Verband Deutscher Industrie Designer will be presenting the “VDID” newcomer award.

Finishes play a major role at the piazza in Hall 6.1 too. This zone is entitled Inspiration, Innovation, interzum. The name says it all: visitors can expect a creative zone that stages the materials featured in the hall and focuses on the beauty and possibilities of the decorative finishes and wood-based materials. The piazza will be created in collaboration with well-known designer Katrin Neelsen. Here too, there will be a whole series of relevant specialist lectures on all days of the fair.

Four piazzas for interzum’s supporting programme

The Upholstery & Bedding piazza in Hall 10 bridges the gap between materials and processing machines for upholstery and mattresses and, like all the other piazzas, will be equipped with a lecture forum. Every day, several experts will be talking at the Upholstery & Bedding piazza about trends and innovations from the entire textile spectrum: modern manufacturing techniques, optimised processes and innovative materials, POS concepts in retail, concepts for offsetting growing price pressure and the latest international lifestyle trends.

Hall 5.1 will feature examples of applications for natural materials like wood and veneer. The European Veneer Forum on 26th and 27th May is a joint initiative in collaboration with GD Holz (German Timber Trade Federation) and the Initiative Furnier & Nature (Veneer & Nature Initiative); now in its third year, the forum has successfully established itself as a regular event. The new trends and innovative products that are the focus of this piazza will be examined from a wide range of different perspectives during the lectures.

interzum and ID Award with special presentations

But there’s more to interzum’s supporting programme than the piazzas. It will kick off with the third Innovation Workshop on Wood-Based Materials, which will take place the day before the fair on May 24th. From 10:00 to 18:00, everything will revolve around the versatile materials, from special requirements for the panels of the future all the way to interesting WPC materials.

The coveted interzum Award that is presented every two years to coincide with the fair will of course be playing a major role again in 2011. The award will be presented during the interzum opening ceremony on 24th May. Trade visitors can see all the victorious products in an exclusive special exhibition: on the central Boulevard of Innovations, the award-winning products will be a focal point of international interest. This additional presentation space provides a special setting that is exclusively reserved for the competition winners.

The winning exhibits of the “International Design Award” that is presented every two years by the companies Hettich and REHAU will also be on show on the Boulevard of Innovations. With this award, the two global players aim to promote young talent and use their fresh thinking to indicate the trends and visions of tomorrow. The competition is open to all design students throughout the world who are able to come up with future-oriented, innovative and unusual solutions in furniture design and furniture production.

Anyone interested in lightweight construction should keep an eye open for the “Lightness of Design” exhibition on the Boulevard of Innovations. A collaboration between renowned industrial designer Klaus W. Göcke and the firms Nobilia, Wöstmann, Wiemann and Hettich, sponsored by the State Ministry of Trade and Commerce, will be presented on the Northern Boulevard. The concept was designed with the support of the Lightweight Construction Association (Interessengemeinschaft Leichtbau igeL e.V.). As well as ground-breaking applications, the presentation is also intended to demonstrate the possibilities for design and the sales potential inherent in lightweight construction. The exhibition will for instance be showing studies and prototypes that are extremely economical to produce and totally compelling in terms of appearance and function.

Future_bizz – how we’ll be living in 2020

The approach adopted by “future_bizz”, which can be explored in Hall 4.2, is also extremely appealing. Those behind the network are concerned with innovative business ideas for people’s homes and lives in theyear 2020. On the basis of future visions, interdisciplinary teams from colleges and partner companies joined forces to develop innovative designs for the interior worlds of selected target subjects in 2020. The results will be presented at interzum in the form of concrete product proposals.

Yet another highlight is located in Hall 4.2: the “Laminate Gallery”, staged by the Committee of the Decorative Laminates Industry (ICDLI) and interzum. Providers and exhibitors of decorative laminates will be given the opportunity to present the beauty of the materials, their application possibilities and the wealth of ideas in decorative laminates in general in the context of an interesting booth. The visitor is thus provided with a great deal of different information concentrated in a small space and can then take the opportunity to find out more about certain themes at the participating companies’ booths in the hall.

One thing is certain: there won’t be a moment of boredom during interzum. There are thematic focal points, innovations and established developments in every hall of the successful trade show. Visitors can gather information on concrete products and applications, but will also have the opportunity to take a look at the bigger picture thanks to the numerous lectures. interzum – the future starts here.

SOURCE: interzum 2011