Dynamic designFeria Valencia Two years ago, barely four pavilions of the Valencia design and home show were filled. This year, two more welcomed furniture in stands where contemporary design was reconsidered through the lens…
Dynamic design
Feria Valencia
Two years ago, barely four pavilions of the Valencia design and home show were filled. This year, two more welcomed furniture in stands where contemporary design was reconsidered through the lens of a revitalised creativity. Architects and designers took the floor to explain the now pared-down lines made in Spain.
Art schools were not left out, in a dedicated “Nude” space. The furniture industry has understood it well: to emerge from the crisis, innovation through skilled creators is the only recourse. By moving away from the classic repetitive approach, familiar identity markers are replaced by a creative dynamism that showcases craftsmanship while seeking to develop a style, an identity. Moreover, Valencia is preparing to hold the title of “World Design Capital 2022” and is counting on its industrial fabric to open up to new markets.
The ANIEME association (Association of Furniture Manufacturers and Exporters / Spanish National) oversees this by organising a fair and inviting the specialist press from around the world. It advises its exhibitors by taking the pulse of aesthetic trends and helping the often family-run structures present a production suited to contemporary design. “Consumers’ tastes have changed,” says Amparo Bertomeu, general manager of ANIEME; “the trend is towards modernity, ecology and the simplicity of functionalism.”
In truth, the determination to revive the furniture economy is clearly on display. The fair seeks to promote the region’s age-old industry by stripping it of any outdated identity. The Spanish have understood that only creativity and research can save manufacturers with ambitions to export. For that, there is only one solution: turn to renowned architects and designers and have them work with the craftspeople. A successful bet, through investment in ideas. The manufacturer wins through undeniable added value; industrialists feed on this creativity to create a refined world such as that of Andreu World. Set in an upscale residential district, it happily receives journalists in the magnificent garden of its showroom. After the eloquent words of the design director and his caresses over the furniture (impeccable in their finishes), the owner of this office-furniture empire steps into the arena to answer questions. The staging is studied down to the smallest detail.
Wearing confident smiles, the Feria’s exhibitors drew buyers and journalists with carved ham and giant paella — without omitting the designers’ technical presentations, delivered with brio and passion. Spanish furniture has bright days ahead and is pulling out all the stops to export well.
SZ
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