Monochrome office furniture destined for co-working goes on display at IMM Cologne

Alain Berteau’s hybrid bed-bench and Alain Gilles‘ easy-to-assemble chair are among the Belgian designs featured in an installation of monochrome office furniture at this year’s IMM Cologne.

The MAD office installation features the 11 designers selected by fashion and design centre MAD Brussels to furnish its co-working space, which is set to open in Brussels later this year.

The working space of MAD Brussels will be all white — a blank cube that highlights the current Belgian design – and all the chosen furniture will be black, grey and white. It is also all sourced from Brussels-based designers.

Alongside Berteau and Gilles, other featured designers include Benoît Deneufbourg, Beaverhausen, Coralie Miessen, Hors Piste, Jean-François D’or, Julien Renault, Nathalie Dewez, PJ Mares and Sylvain Willenz.

Products include Berteau’s Keypad seating system, which turns a bench into a daybed for napping, an armchair or a sofa.

It is accompanied by the Keyboard desk – a flat-packed “soft-desking” system upholstered in noise-absorbing material.

Gilles’ plywood Buzzifloat chair intends to use the minimum amount of material for maximum comfort. It slots together easily like a foam-board mock-up, with a flexible back support for extra comfort.

Bold architectural shapes informed Beaverhausen’s lacquered metal Elements bookends, which are shown in a papyrus white. Other desk accessories by the studio include a letter holder for storing napkins, papers and business cards.

Aluminium side tables by Hors Piste are also included. Made using a hand-casting process, each piece in the collection, named Hors Série, features different sand-printed markings.

Three products by D’Or feature in the display, including a black aluminium tray that can also be used as a placemat. D’Or’s June table features a long top and storage space beneath, where a collection of the designer’s stackable wooden July trays slot inside.

The Sanba table by PJ Mares, which designer Tom Mares described as showing “the logic of the Scandinavians and the sexiness of the Italians”, is also included in the installation.

Alongside it are Renault’s round and rectangular marble side tables, which can be used in different combinations. It features technology to charge any electronic device.

Rounding out the installation are Miessen’s modular floor tiles made of felt waste from industrial production, Deneufbourg’s handmade solid ash Paddle Chair, Dewez’ Elipse pendant light and Willenz’s Radar chair.

“MAD’s mission is to promote young entrepreneurs, to encourage new initiatives and to support all passionates of fashion and design in order to strengthen their development and growth in these fields, inside and outside of Brussels,” said the MAD Office.

Furniture fair IMM Cologne takes place from 16 to 22 January 2017. Products launching at the fair include a collection of tables designed by architect Hans Bølling, customisable glass shelving by Werner Aisslinger and stools by Fabio Hendry and Martijn Rigters featuring patterns made from burnt hair.

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