IMM Cologne 2016: Pure Talents Contest

For reasons known only to the IMM 2016 organisers the numerous segments composing the “Talents” section – that section of IMM Cologne devoted to younger designers and design students – have been scattered thought the exhibition halls.

In past years they were, generally, all collated in one hall, which was all very pleasant, convenient and social. This year it is a bit here, a bit there, bit over there. And even when they do appear in the same exhibition hall then in a completely unrelated, incoherent fashion and without any all too obvious indication as to where the next bit might be.

Accordingly anyone wishing to peruse the Talents section is advised to come equipped with sturdy walking shoes, a picnic and a healthy sense of adventure. Those, for example, hoping to find the design colleges have to navigate a fantasy Kingdom of sauna, hot tub and fake fire sellers. Which if we correctly recall was originally the tenth ring of Dante’s Inferno before his publishers decided that such was too much, too brutal, too intense, if accurate, a depiction of the contemporary Catholic doctrine for the sensibilities of a 14th century public. Thus Lucifer remained with the traitors; and not as Dante intended drinking an oaked Chardonnay in front of a small flame in a glass box.

It is to be hoped that it is just a temporary aberration and that next year when the kitchen merchants return with their unending spacial requirements that Messe Köln will manage to give the Talents section a platform, and the respect, they deserve.

The 2016 Pure Talents Contest is being staged in a location the organisers euphemistically refer to as “Passage 2/3” – which in a way it is, a passageway which approximately equates to two-thirds of a real room.

IMM Cologne 2016. Pure Talents Contest

Celebrating its thirteenth edition the 2016 Pure Talents contest is in no way a classic vintage; while all very competent and professional, for us there is simply too much which references the near past, too little that indicates genuine innovation, much more the majority is further experimenting with themes that have been present in international design schools for the past few years. That said there were a few projects which tickled our fancies, three in particular.

Viiva by Nathalia Mussi

If were honest we’re coming to the limits of our tolerance in terms of filigree metal wire objects; something we only realised at IMM Cologne 2016 and the stupidly ridiculous number of “new” labels who appear to have sprung up to pedal nothing but. Walking past their stands we could already see the adverts, nauseously happy and hip young folks in improbable apartments and all published in those achingly well designed lifestyle magazines no one actually reads but can always be found in faux-industrial coffee shops. As we say, we’re coming to the end of our tolerance. And that very quickly. Which isn’t to say that what already exists has lost any of its magic, nor that new products can’t be welcomed with open arms. New products such as the lamp family Viiva by Nathalia Mussi. Hailing from Brazil but currently based in Helsinki where she is undertaking an MA in Product and Spatial design at the Aalto University School of Art, design and Architecture, Nathalia Mussi was inspired by the form and luminescence of OLEDs as light sources, and a desire to move away from the high-tech solutions designers invariably develop for OLEDs. Formally very reminiscent of traditional light shades the Viiva family are eminently welcoming, accessible and personable objects which do nothing spectacular and do that that with a great charm and decorum. If Nathalia could find a better solution for the power cables than having them hanging there all post-industrial, that would be a definite improvement. But otherwise a most agreeable and promising project.

Viiva by Nathalia Mussi, as seen at the Pure Talents Contest, IMM Cologne 2016

Phare Portable Lamp by Stanislaw Czarnocki

Years and years and years and years ago we saw the Lampada Poltrona by Luigi Caccia Dominioni for Italian manufacturer Azucena. Created in 1976 the Lampada Poltrona is basically a light bulb on a leather strap which can be hung over the back of your chair, thus giving you a personal light source for every chair. At the time we considered it genius, we were however young and forgot that it had a cable. And cables restrict. Since then we have seen numerous cable free, portable lighting solutions, but none which has convinced us quite as much as the Phare Portable Lamp by Polish born, ECAL Lausanne student, Stanislaw Czarnocki. If we’re correctly informed Phare was originally developed in context of the “ECAL at Appartement 50” exhibition for which ECAL students developed projects intended for use in Le Corbusier’s Cité Radieuse in Marseille, and an exhibition which we recommended everyone visit in our “5 New Design Exhibitions for July 2015” post. We didn’t follow our own advice. We didn’t see the exhibition, but having seen Phare we can well imagine it would work very well in Cité Radieuse. Or indeed in any home or office. A very simple object whose usability is founded on a very simple construction system, if not mathematical principle, Phare makes use of LED technology and is rechargeable meaning it is fully mobile, versatile and thus practical. And aesthetically very, very charming.

Phare Portable Lamp by Stanislaw Czarnocki, as seen at the Pure Talents Contest, IMM Cologne 2016

Xtend Portable Bath by Carina Deuschi

Much as we adore W. Heath Robinson and K. R. G. Browne’s 1936 book “How to live in a Flat”, since IMM Cologne 2016 we know there is one invention they forgot.

The collapsible bath tub.

Developed by Akademie der Bildenden Künste München student Carina Deuschl the Xtend Portable Bath is one of those objects many will, correctly, ask, “OK. But who needs such? No honestly, who?” We suspect, we don’t know, we didn’t ask, but we suspect, that the initial thoughts concerned changing demographics, ever smaller flats, an ever more mobile society and ultimately a decreasing supply of domestic bath tubs by a largely constant demand for a relaxing evening in a bath of bubbles. Featuring an outer shell water-jet cut from a carbon fibre material with a machine washable inner “tub”, Xtend meets the requirements set by all those demands. In addition to being an object that can also allow, for example, for the provision of a second bathroom when one has guests, or for bathing solutions in emergency situations. And yes, OK, also outdoor bathing, for example on your balcony. Or while caravanning.

Yes there are practical considerations with a collapsible bath tub, however what attracts us to Xtend is less the bath tub per se and more the concept. And in our own uncouth way, we have already started expanding that concept’s field of use beyond the luxury of a relaxing evening in a bath of bubbles and into truly useful dimensions. And certainly a long way away from anything that might have anything to do with caravanning…..

Xtend Portable Bath by Carina Deuschi, as seen at the Pure Talents Contest, IMM Cologne 2016