Vienna-based Mischer’Traxler, one of the three design studios chosen by W Hotels for its Designers of the Future Award, addressed the theme of “Conversation Pieces” with a machine that works better the more people there are gathered around it; a mirror that only reflects when two or more people are watching it; and pairs of lights that “converse” via their light sources.
Asif Khan of Britain, the second of the Designers of the Future Award winners, showed “Cloud,” an installation in which helium gas, water and soap combined to create clouds that rose to the ceiling to create patterns of light and shade on the floor
Studio Juju of Singapore, the third of the Designers of the Future Award winners, explored the idea of conversation by creating a metal-framed virtual tent, which defined a conversation space (filled with chairs of their own design), while not constricting it.
Demisch Danant’s booth displayed the work of the underrated French postwar Modernist designer Joseph André Motte.