A day completely packed with a virtual trade conference, plus master classes on various days with an interactive exchange between designers, architects and the industry on themes revolving around design and innovation
Current trends, the latest product innovations, exciting lectures and the opportunity for a professional exchange: interzum @home offers you all that this year, regardless of where you happen to be from 4 to 7 May. In the context of a new and innovative platform, there will be countless sections to discover at interzum @home, as would otherwise be the case at the trade fair on site in Cologne. In addition to the initiation of successful business, however, this business event can also be understood as a communication and network platform for a know-how transfer between research and industry, as well as an incubator for new materials, trends and technologies. Also part of this supporting programme this year is the established material conference materials.cologne.
The materials.cologne platform and conference for design and innovation focuses on materials and sustainability. In cooperation with interzum @home, the event’s founder Martin Beeh aims to use specialist lectures by international experts on materials-related topics and several so-called master classes to reach out to an audience consisting primarily of designers, architects, interior designers and decision makers from innovative companies.
On the starting day of 4 May, the event concentrates on three segments: the current state of knowledge, best practice examples from design and the trades, as well as from architecture and interior design. In the first thematic block, guests of interzum @home are provided with the latest knowledge from research and science on sustainable design and material development, as well as on practical methods of sustainability evaluation. In the second thematic block, speakers report on the basis of project descriptions and findings, how sustainable design can be achieved. The focus is on product, furniture and textile design, as well as on artisanal realisation.
Finally, in the third complex, design personalities show how sustainable principles can be practically realised for construction and the design of interiors. In the work reports, the conference participants learn more about the challenges and solutions of sustainable architecture. “The decision makers close to the design within the companies can use the dialogue platform materials.cologne exclusively to find new business fields and potential partners for interdisciplinary project solutions”, is how curator Beeh explains the aims of this conference.
Among the speakers is Karl-Johan Bertilsson from Stockholm (Sweden), who will speak about current colour trends in design, architecture and interior design with a view to sustainable product and brand strategies. Professor Marina-Elena Wachs from the Hochschule Niederrhein presents sustainability solutions from fashion through lamps to automotive, interiors and architecture.
Albin Kälin, founder of EPEA Switzerland GmbH, is an industry pioneer for sustainable product development and an accredited reviewer for the “Cradle-to-Cradle-Certified” certification standard. In contrast with this, the American designer, brand strategist and personal brand consultant Gilman Hanson and his team have dedicated themselves to the development of brands that gain the trust and loyalty of consumers. And Sarah Janböcke, a graduate in industrial design with several years of experience in aviation, white goods, consumer electronics and packaging, advises companies in the focus areas of innovation, digitalisation and corporate culture. Her lecture title is “Building sustainable business”.
The speakers of the event also appear ‘live’ as tutors of the separately carried out digital “master classes” on´the subsequent days of 5 and 6 May. The goals here are a more in-depth treatment of the theme on the basis of operational practice, becoming familiar with effective tools and, not least, the establishing of personal contact with experts. The ‘master classes’ are offered in two-hour formats via the communication platform Zoom for a charge.
The conference takes place in English. The possibility exists to also experience the short contributions of the experts and speakers following interzum @home in the Internet. To finish, project manager Beeh once again: “Our conference, as part of interzum @home, stands for a knowledge exchange of the interior design industry – in North Rhine-Westphalia, in the German-speaking world, in Europe and throughout the world.” More on materials.cologne 2021 under www.mat.cologne
The materials.cologne platform and conference for design and innovation focuses on materials and sustainability. In cooperation with interzum @home, the event’s founder Martin Beeh aims to use specialist lectures by international experts on materials-related topics and several so-called master classes to reach out to an audience consisting primarily of designers, architects, interior designers and decision makers from innovative companies. “To mark the premiere of the supplier trade fair interzum as a digital-only format, we will communicate a brief daily summary of the talks and the takeaways from the master classes online on materials.cologne.TV”, says Martin Beeh, about the additional feature of the conference.
