Interior Innovation Award Cologne To Honor Innovative Exhibitors

Furniture World Magazine

As every year, the prestigious “interior innovation award cologne” will be awarded to the most innovative furnishing designs seen at imm 2009. The contest is open to all 1,200 exhibitors at the show. Prizes will be awarded in the following five categories: Best Item - Best System - Best Detail - Material Innovation - Classic Innovation. The panel will consists of six internationally well-known design experts, among them the Americans Julie Lasky, Editor in Chief of ID Magazine and the San Francisco based Architect, Johanna Grawunder. They will be joined by the two designers Edward Barber and Jörg Boner as well as the journalists Dieter Pesch and Andrej Kupetz. The award cermony will take place on the Cologne Fairground on Monday, January 19, 2009 in Hall 3.1 at the “D3 Lounge”. Asked whether some of the European furnishing designs shown in Cologne would be likely to make their way into U.S. show rooms, Julie Lasky commented: “European design rightly has a reputation for progressiveness. Designers seem more free to experiment with forms and materials—which American designers find both enviable and inspiring. A competition like this adds excitement to an event as they leave important records of accomplishment, which in turn offer fascinating insights into long-term trends.” Added Johanna Grawunder: “In the course of a normal day, most of us are not able to speak about design or the qualities of our profession. We are usually either working or dealing with all the daily peripherals. The imm awards competition puts an electrifying spin on the fair.” For information about registration or travel to imm cologne, please contact Ken Dickerson, North American Project Manager at 773-326-9926 or k.dickerson@koelnmessenafta.com