New York Tales: How ya doin’

Not good

As everyone know everything in America is bigger. Everything.
From bagels the size of Jupiter to the level of manipulation undertaken to justify invading Iraq.

Everything in America exists on a larger scale than you thought possible.

Except furniture trade shows.

The Vitra stand in new York - smaller than the Vitra VIP area in Milan

In Milan, Artemide‘s stand, for example, was so big it was not only dissected by a time zone, but in the north east corner biologists found two previously unknown primate species. Meanwhile Kartell, following the problems in 2008, constructed an underground rail system to help visitors get around the stand more easily. This in turn led to the establishment of a local snack and newspaper vending industry which ultimatley forced Kartell to introduce their own currency – designed naturally by Phillipe Starck.

In New York, everything is tiny by comparison.

While in many areas, small equals intimacy which equals better.
Here it just serves to underline what a minor role contemporary, designer furniture plays in the USA.

ICFF is so quiet rabbits feel at ease on the stands (almost)

And for all European contemporary designer furniture.
In the ICFF book shop you can buy books on Italian design, French design, German design, British Design; there’s even lovely little book on the Vespa.

Out there in “Reality USA”, howver the majority of the consumers are obviously still obsessed with the formless and bland solid wood furniture you see adorning the loving, caring family home in every TV commercial.
We believe the word is “traditional”. Possibly “Traditional American”.

Which is a synonym for safe, unimaginative, uninteresting.
And as with most utterances of the word “traditional” by Americans, describes a narrow, defined, blinkered tradition.

droog: Stylishly disrespectful as ever - turn up, set up, go home....

Yeah, there is market for good, well mde designer furniture in the US, obviously, but it isn’t so big that one need take it seriously.

And as such a show like the ICFF suffer, because no one takes them seriously.

Sadly.