Dwell on Design L. A. is going global.
Purchased by Informa Exhibitions last May, the three-day modern design extravaganza will host a keynote address by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto, while IMM Cologne will host new work from young European designers.
If it sounds like it’s still informed by Dwell editors, that’s because it is. They developed the 2016 show’s four pillars: Healthy Architecture, the Business of Design, Smart Home, and the Nice Modernist. “Amanda Dameron and her editors work on the content,” says Dana Teague, vice president of the design group at Informa. “We work very closely with them – they curate what will be on the show’s two stages.”
Additional speakers include Aaron Betsky, dean of the Frank Lloyd Wright School at Taliesin West, activist Gary Sinise of the Gary Sinise Foundation, architect Frank Clementi of Rios Clementi Hale Studios, and Matthew Hufft of Hufft Projects.
The 2016 show’s expected to be 10 percent bigger than last year’s event. It’s known for attracting designers and architects, as well as consumers and modern design aficionados – all seeking a new products and a finely curated educational experience. It promises to be a total exploration of modern design, as Informa partners with ASID, local chapters of AIA and USGBC, and the national Kitchen and Bath Association. CEUs will be available.
Emerging designers and their work will be featured at the new Prime Edition and Prototype Pavilion, and the Modern Family Pavilion and Dwell Outdoor Pavilion will be returning. “The Dwell Outdoor Pavilion will be curated by Jamie Durie, the landscape designer from Australia landscape designer,” she says. “He’s host of the television show Outback Nation and author of nine best-selling books.”
Durie will be designing an area that’s 34,000 square feet in the middle of the Los Angeles Convention Center – a Central Park-like setting with outdoor furnishings, prefabricated structures and a beer garden. “It’s one of the things that that sets us apart from other events,” she says.
New exhibitors include Adam Raiola, Ann 330 Gallery, At Aroma Co., Curio Design, MOO, MTI Baths, RAD Furniture, Resysta, Sonoma Forge, and The World Effect. They’ll join returning exhibitors Astek Wall Coverings, Big Ass Solutions, Casoro Jewelry, Ceilum Ceiling Tiles, Deacero, and EOS Surfaces.
MODIFY Furniture will be launching Modify After Dark, a new way to customize furniture; GRAFF Faucets will be introducing the Dressage Free-standing vanity; KONCEPT will be introducing Mr.Go!, a portable LED Lantern; and Resource Furniture will be debuting its new Prima TV Rack.
All in all, this is a show that’s a chronicler of changing trends in contemporary design. “The world is becoming smaller and modern design is becoming more global,” she says. “Sustainability used to be seen as a luxury, but now it’s seen as standard – a part of most or all of the products in the show. It’s expected.”
Dwell on Design L.A., running from June 24 – 26, is billed as America’s largest design event. There’s little wonder there.
To register, go here.
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