From Living And Giving To Dining
Find The Latest And Best At Ambiente
For centuries, people have been gathering in Frankfurt to offer consumer goods for sale. The term ‘Messe Frankfurt’ (literally ‘Frankfurt Trade Fair’) was first uttered in the mid twelfth century when farmers gathered in the city to sell cutlery, furniture, gifts and other items for the home. The practice has lived on, although Messe Frankfurt is now the name of the world’s largest trade fair, congress and event organiser with its own exhibition grounds in central Frankfurt and an orientation toward design.
The company’s signature event is Ambiente – a trade fair for global consumer goods in the areas of dining, living and giving. The tradeonly event, which returns from 8 to 12 February 2019, is considered the barometer of trends in consumer goods for cooking, dining, housewares, leisure, giving, interior design and interior furnishing. But aside from objects of interest to retailers and wholesalers, it also offers goods for contract customers from the HoReCa (hotel, restaurant and catering) industries. In 2019, a HoReCa Guide will help visitors navigate the vast exhibition grounds and find the exhibitors relevant to them. An additional drawcard will be an exclusive hospitality-industry networking evening.
Industry professionals will also be interested in a special exhibition of trends by trend bureau Stilbüro bora.herke.palmisano. The need for calmness and awareness in fast-moving times is one major trend observed by the studio during research trips to all the globe’s major trade fairs. Underpinning such directions are the themes of sustainability, naturalness and recycling. At Ambiente, a Trend Gallery and Trend Lectures will communicate Stilbüro bora.herke.palmisano’s forecasts. Additionally, Ambiente’s Ethical Style Guide will direct visitors to brands whose products have been deemed (by Ambiente’s jury of industry experts, retailers and exhibitors) to be sustainably and ethically manufactured.
Visitors travelling from our region to Germany for Ambiente will find a sense of home ground through the displays of this year’s partner country India. Products by traditional craftspeople and artisans will be presented in an exhibition curated and designed by Jaipur-based designer Ayush Kasliwal. Indian multidisciplinary designer, educator and entrepreneur Sandeep Sangaru will design the cafe in hall 4.1.
A trade fair focused on consumer goods would not be complete if it did not address the matter of online retail, and the challenges it poses for brick-and-mortar stores. Ambiente offers a special Point of Experience display – so named in reference to the more traditional physical point of sale. It is being created by design and implementation studio Gruschwitz and will explore how – far beyond the transactional – storytelling and engagement can be part of the retail encounter.
There’ll be plenty more to see at Ambiente 2019, including the Talents and Next sections, featuring contemporary creations by young and unknown designers, and the presentation of the German Design Award 2019. With the multi-storey exhibition halls and grounds covering an area equivalent to 50 football fields, our advice is to don comfy shoes and grab your Ambiente Guides to make your Ambiente experience a targeted and rewarding one.