Hotel Designs continues looking back to reflect on some of the major statement products of 2019 with part two of its Year in Review of the best products to have launched in the last 11 months (edited by Hamish Kilburn)…
Recently, I was lucky enough to sit in the company of design legend Marcel Wanders. While discussing his latest innovations, he effortlessly defined the relationship between suppliers and designers perfectly.
He said, and I quote: “Designing a product is much like creating a new word in an empty sentence. Depending on how the words are curated will determine the dynamics of the sentence, and in effect, the quality of the poem it becomes. I love seeing what sentences and poems designers will create with my empty words.”
This almost accidental explaination somehow put a new perspective on how I view and consume the news of product launches. Much like expanding ones vocabublary on the editorial desk at Hotel Designs HQ, following the latest products that emerge in the arena of international hotel design is a never-ending journey full of discovery.
I for one am looking forward to seeing how designers and architects use these products to create, as Wanders would describe, perfectly balanced sentences that are perminantly inked onto the pages of a well-rounded collection of hotel design poetry.
Following part one, which was published earlier this month, here’s part two of our Year in Review:
LG and Foster + Partner’s game-changeing LED TV
Launched during Milan Design Week, architectural firm Foster + Partners unveiled the world’s first rollable OLED TV in reaction to the rising demand for discreet technology. Raising the bar in consumer technology, the new LG SIGNATURE OLED TV R, the world’s first rollable TV.
The practice designed the TV’s external geometry and finishes as well as playing an active part in creating specific internal mechanisms. The screen technology is set to redefine the idea of the television and the living spaces it occupies.
Signbox’s sustainable solution
Image credit: Signbox
Hybrid from Signbox is a premium modular outdoor sign system that combines the relentlessly durable and sustainable qualities of exterior-grade composite bamboo with powerful materials, such as painted MDF, glass and slate, that bring both sign scheme and setting to life.
Phillipe Starck’s new vanity and mirror line with Duravit
Image credit: Duravit/Philippe Stark
The bathroom line by Duravit and Philippe Starck launched in August, unveiling compact designs that claimed to accommodate any bathroom, particularly with hospitality and commercial spaces in mind. Cape Cod Guest exudes the same aesthetic as its predecessor but is now available with a narrower vanity and mirror, bringing larger-than-life design into more intimate spaces.
Minotti London’s indoor/outdoor 2019 collection
Image credit: Minotti London
Hot off the heels of being at the centre of the action as the style partner for Meet Up London, Minotti has yet again raised the level of furniture design with the unveiling of its 2019 Collection during Milan Design Week.
Collection after collection, year after year, Minotti’s unquenchable passion can be sensed from all corners of the design-hub city.
For the 2019 Collection, the furniture company conceived a new stylistic code, a new vision of the interior with surprising suggestions and atmospheres which play host to our new designs. Its intention is to provide food for thought in a surprising, creative, practical and dynamic way, to all those who choose our brand around the world.
The new collection, coordinated by Rodolfo Dordoni with Minotti Studio, brings a new vision of the living area to life, in which seating systems and furniture outline structured spaces and reveal new geometries in a continuous alternation of curves and straight lines. The result is a surprising variety of compositional solutions featuring unexpected combinations of textures and materials.
Knightsbridge celebrated 80 years with collaboration with Timorous Beasties
New to 2019, Knightsbridge exhibited its Caravelle collection at Sleep & Eat 2019, which was redeveloped to celebrate Knightsbridge’s 80thanniversary and its rich history, taking influence from a past mid-century piece of furniture.
The Caravelle collection consists of an armchair, two-seater and three-seater settee that have the clean lines and organic curves that the period became renowned for. It’s deep seat cushion provides a luxurious seat whilst the beautiful clean styling allows it to be specified into workplace, hospitality and care sectors. The collection is covered with exquisite fabric featuring jungle creatures and foliage from visionary textile designers Timorous Beasties.
Crosswater’s unique, high-signature finishes
Image credit: Crosswater
Bathroom manufacturer Crosswater’s high-quality signature finishes and textures enable hotels to express their own brand through their bathroom designs. Combined with lighting and interior design elements, each bathroom can be created to perfectly suit the personality of the hotel, often without the need to change existing sanitaryware.
Twists and turns from Christopher Hyde
Image credit: Christopher Hyde
A new handmade pendant ‘The Lucerne’ is a satin brass adjustable frame incorporating LED with bubble glass. “This exciting new piece is great for over tables and bars and will compliment and be a talking point for any interior,” said the brand in a press release.
Meanwhile, the dynamic collection of the ‘Granada’ and ‘Seville’ lights has captured a different take on the Christopher Hyde Brand. With inner finishes available in gold, silver and copper leaf these lights are given added luxury. This exciting collection comes with LED lighting technology.
If you know of a product you believe should be involved in Hotel Designs’ ultimate throwback, please email h.kilburn@forumevents.co.uk.
