#1 VITRA presents ‘WORK’

Once again, Vitra was a strong contender to take our best stand and at this year’s Orgatec, their concept ‘WORK’ was all about showcasing innovative concepts related to the title theme in an expertly curated format. WORK aimed to foster a holistic vision of workplace environments, where Vitra invited selected design, architecture and technology companies to share the exhibition space including Archilogic, art aqua, Artek, bulthaup, Dinesen, Gantner, IdeaPaint, Kvadrat, Kvadrat Soft Cells, Laufen, Mercedes-Benz, Ruckstuhl, Samsung, Swisscom and Wästberg.

Together they conveyed a multifaceted picture of today’s working world with an array of products, spatial elements and furnishing concepts. The stand was very powerful, and once again, Vitra confirms their long-held status as a force to be reckoned with.

#2 Felix Vorbek and Johannes Winkler present ‘LMTOGA’

This installation was exceptionally cryptic. It actually took us a whole day of Instagram stalking, Googling and presskit digging to find out what in the world this mysteriously cool stand was about and who it was by. Because we are such awesome investigative journalists, here’s what we discovered…

Freshly graduated, emerging Graphic designers Felix Vorbek and Johannes Winkler (who shares a name with a famous German rocket engineer – which proved very frustrating when you’re trying to find ANYTHING about this thing on Google) created the ‘Let’s Make The Office Great Again’ (LMTOGA for short) workplace installation. The effort formed part of Orgatec’s New Visions For Work initiative throughout the fair, in particular the #CreativityWorks campaign – the driving theme of this year’s event. So what is LMTOGA all about in the end?

LMTOGA was way too interesting to just give it a small paragraph in a list of other killer stands at Orgatec this year. Plus we had to justify the 10 hours of research we put into this one stand, so we wrote a whole story, all about LMTOGA and #CreativityWorks. Click here to find out more about Orgatec 2016’s most infamous stand!

#3 BuzziSpace presents ‘No Boundaries’

We LOVED BuzziSpace this year! Their new vision for the workplace – ‘No Boundaries’ – emphasises that ‘nomadic-working’ is essential to this vision. According to BuzziSpace, there is a rapidly growing number of working nomads who seek highly experiential environments to meet and network with other individuals, making visits to the ‘office’ a luxury and a form of reward. It spoke to the ‘No Boundaries’ positioning of the brand, where design is meant to be adaptive for different work and collaboration styles.

On their stand this year, you could experience two worlds. On one side was an urban setting for the daily flexible work routine where BuzziJungle took a central position. Here, all kinds of solo workers could unite for working apart together in an inspiring ‘CoWork’ environment. Cross boundaries to the other luscious side, where you could experience the true meaning of a ‘Trophy Office’, a real sanctuary where important meetings were held and key stakeholders received in peace. Sociability, innovation and wellbeing took centre stage and were evident on the unique, experience-based BuzziSpace stand.

#4 Kokuyo by Nendo presents ‘The Rolling Workspace’

This year, in response to the increasing importance of real communication among workers in the office, famed Japanese commercial design house, Kokuyo, used their booth to focus on the action of writing for enhancing the ideas and creativity of individuals and teams. In collaboration with Nendo, Kokuyo proposed a new type of workspace with whiteboards as a key tool connecting stationery and furniture, which are both our business domains.

On the stand, circular whiteboards create various writing scenes that flexibly change and produce an innovative and attractive communication space that inspires the creativity of people who work inside. It’s an exciting concept and if nothing else, it was strikingly beautiful. Total Instagram bait.

#5 Normann Copenhagen present ‘Think New’

In true Scandinavian style, Normann Copenhagen didn’t for some flighty academic topic, but rather, simply focuses on the new and the next. The Think New stand covers everything: executive office, co-working spaces, conference rooms, study halls, and more. How would you furnish your office environment? The question they posed was really that simple and honest. Among the new designs they are at Orgatec 2016 are the Form, Era and Just chairs.

If nothing but an admirably slavish devotion to setting the trends for the year ahead, Normann Copenhagen was doused in the creamy warmth of pinks and oranges… so dreamy.

#6 LAUFEN presents ‘WORK’

Who says Orgatec is just about furniture? Another in a long string of brands who chose ‘WORK’ as their concept, Laufen, for the first time ever, appeared with its own stand within the framework of the ‘WORK‘ exhibition platform of Vitra – because every office always has a sanitary room. And as quickly as the modern working world changes, so do the requirements of the bathroom in the office.

Laufen’s Vitra pop-up was a stellar, Kubrick-esque romp into modern workplace bathrooms. If Bauhaus were to ever design a bathroom and asked Kraftwerk to consult on the project, the result would be the Laufen Orgatec 2016 stand.

#7 Pedrali presents ‘The Ironic Office’

Designed by Pedrali’s Calvi Brambilla, ‘The Ironic Office’ presented a series of abstracted typical working environments; spaces, settings, situations, from the meeting room to the break-out area, from the conference room to the company restaurant without forgetting the waiting areas. Real scenes in movement that interpret these mundane spaces in an ironic and surreal almost dreamlike viewpoint through the lens of the Pedrali’s many collections.

For example, a shark which worryingly passed by behind a window of a waiting area to three little boats which sailed over a snow-white top of a table in a meeting room, had to be one of our personal favorites. Like pictures of a movie, these tridimensional frames revolved round the central area where it’s possible to touch the same furniture showcased in dark and unified shades.

Two absolute novelties were showing at Pedrali’s Cologne stand: Snooze, the first sound absorbing panel of the company designed by Marcello Ziliani, ideal to improve the acoustics quality of any officespace and Vic, the upholstered armchair born from the recent collaboration with French designer Patrick Norguet, which will be shown in a steel leg version. The two new proposals are being presented along with other products of Pedrali collection such as Social, the modular system suitable both for a widened co-working and for a tête-à-tête coffee break and Babila family large and versatile, perfect to create a home-office corner or creativity sharing office spaces. The Pedrali stand is designer comedy at its finest.

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