DOMOTEX 2016: biggest exhibitor turnout in years
Wood Flooring Summit 2016 meeting with strong demand· Innovations@DOMOTEX to feature expanded choice of Guided Tours
· Guest appearances by star international designers: architect and designer
· Piero Lissoni (Lissoni Associati) and architect Wolf D. Prix (Coop Himmelb(l)au)
Hannover. DOMOTEX 2016 is shaping up nicely. Opening day is still a whole three months away, but there are already very clear indications that the world’s leading trade show for carpets and floor coverings will enjoy a particularly strong and international industry turnout. “We’re on track for an extremely successful DOMOTEX 2016,” commented Dr. Jochen Köckler, a member of the Managing Board at Deutsche Messe. “We have already received more exhibitor bookings than in previous years. And the reason for that is simple: people with innovative products and ideas need a strong international platform. They need DOMOTEX. As the flagship showcase of the carpets and floor coverings industry, DOMOTEX sets the tone. It is the only show that provides a comprehensive overview of the latest trends and innovations on the floor coverings market.” In terms of numbers, DOMOTEX 2016, which runs from 16 to 19 January, is expected to feature some 1,400 exhibitors from more than 60 countries.
DOMOTEX is the global hub of the carpets and floor coverings industry, a marketing powerhouse that gets the year off to a strong start with a shot of new ideas and business leads. World-leading providers of floor coverings will use the upcoming show as a springboard for their new products and collections. “About 85 percent of the show’s exhibitors will be from outside Germany. They are taking part in DOMOTEX 2016 in order to tap into new export markets,” Köckler said. After Germany, the biggest exhibiting nations in terms of leased space are Turkey, India, Belgium, China, the Netherlands and Iran.
Spread across 12 exhibition halls, the upcoming DOMOTEX will feature a uniquely rich and diverse array of products and materials – an absolute bonanza for trade visitors from the flooring wholesale and retail sectors, architecture, interior design, the skilled flooring trades and the furniture and interior furnishing retail and wholesale sectors. The show’s product lineup encompasses textile and resilient floor coverings for the residential and contract furnishing sectors, machine-woven and hand-made carpets and rugs, parquet and laminate flooring, outdoor flooring solutions, and a comprehensive range of care, cleaning, installation and application technologies.
“One thing we can already say with certainty is that LVT tiles and planks will be one of the big attractions at the show. And no wonder, with all those innovative printed designs and textures to choose from,” Köckler said. The LVT offering at the upcoming DOMOTEX will be much bigger than ever before. The show’s parquet and laminate flooring section will also be bigger, with exhibitor numbers and exhibition space both noticeably up on 2014. The exhibitor lineup in the parquet and laminate products section will, for instance, include numerous premium suppliers such as Bauwerk, Gazzotti, Margaritelli, Mafi and Scheucher.
Another major visitor magnet at DOMOTEX 2016 will be the Wood Flooring Summit in Hall 9. The event is expected to feature around 200 exhibitors from the parquet and laminate flooring industry, plus over 180 providers of application and installation technology. Among them will be such big names as Amorim, Boen, Egger, Kährs, Meisterwerke and Unilin. “The Wood Flooring Summit is one of the stand-out highlights of the show. It features a rich and independently selected range of innovative new creations and interior design solutions from the best of the best in the parquet, wood and laminate flooring sector. An informative and stimulating showcase for visitors from all backgrounds,” said Ulrich Scheffold, General Manager, Margaritelli Germany. Staged in Hall 9, the Summit features an exhibition area for product innovations and a dining and lounge area for informal networking.
Innovations@DOMOTEX: showcase for the best new ideas in flooring
The power of the new is writ large at DOMOTEX, thanks to Innovations@DOMOTEX, a special showcase that gives visitors a quick, concentrated overview of the best and most exciting innovations and trends in flooring. The showcase comprises three Innovations@DOMOTEX Areas – located in halls 6, 9 and 17 – where the year’s most innovative products are given artistic staging and extra prominence. The products themselves will be selected ahead of DOMOTEX by an expert jury headed by the internationally renowned industrial designer Stefan Diez. Exhibitors still have until 3 November 2015 to submit their innovations to the jury in the following product categories: Textile Floor Coverings/Fibers and Yarns; Resilient Floor Coverings; Parquet, Wood and Laminate Flooring; Modern Hand-made Carpets; Application and Installation Technology.
Dialogue with the stars
The format also includes presentations and discussion panels (Innovations@DOMOTEX Dialogues) featuring high-power architects and designers from Alexander Brenner Architects (Berlin), BBP – Blocher Blocher Partners (Stuttgart), bogevischs buero architekten & stadtplaner (Munich), Kinzo (Berlin), D’art Design Gruppe (Neuss) and JOI Design (Hamburg). Other star guests include the Italian designer and architect Piero Lissoni (of Lissoni Associati, Milan) and the Austrian architect Wolf W. Prix (of Coop Himmelb(l)au, Vienna). These creatives will discuss architectural trends and developments in which floors and flooring play an important role. The discussion will be structured around the keynote themes of Hotel and Restaurant, Office, Healthcare, Living, and Shopping/Retail. The Dialogues will be held at the Innovations@DOMOTEX Area in Hall 6 and will run from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 3 to 5:30 p.m. on all four days of the show.
New: application-specific guided tours for visitors
Since its inception, the Innovations@DOMOTEX format has always included Guided Tours of selected exhibits lead by big-name architects and designers. The tours give visitors a unique perspective on selected products, manufacturers and display stands. The big news for the 2016 season is that the organizers are expanding the tour program to include application-specific tours which directly address the themes covered in the Innovations@DOMOTEX Dialogues. This new part of the tour program is aimed primarily at creatives from the architecture, interior architecture and interior design scenes who are at DOMOTEX scouting for new ideas on floor covering applications. Each of these new tours is timed to depart immediately after its corresponding Dialogue.
Carpet Design Awards honor the world’s best designer carpets
As in past years, the big stars in Hall 17 at next year’s DOMOTEX will include exquisite hand-made carpet and rug creations by some of the world’s most innovative designers, such as Reuber Henning, Hossein Rezvani, Rug Star, Tufenkian, Wool & Silk Rugs and Zollanvari. What’s more, the products rated the best of the best among these innovative creations will be honored at the Carpet Design Awards. The Carpet Design Awards are the world’s highest accolade for contemporary hand-made carpets and rugs and are always keenly anticipated. In the lead-up to DOMOTEX, an international jury headed by top British designer Michael Sodeau will select the best carpets in each of eight categories. The selected carpets will then be displayed during DOMOTEX in the Innovations@DOMOTEX Area in Hall 17. The winners in each category will be presented with their awards at a grand ceremony in the Hall 17 Innovations@DOMOTEX Area on Sunday, 17 January 2016.
DOMOTEX Worldwide:
DOMOTEX asia/CHINAFLOOR: Shanghai, 22 to 24 March 2016 – the largest international flooring-trade exhibition in the Asia-Pacific region.
DOMOTEX Turkey: Gaziantep, 23 to 26 May 2016 – Turkey’s leading trade fair for carpets and floor coverings.
DOMOTEX asia/CHINAFLOOR: Shanghai, 22 to 24 March 2016 – the largest international flooring-trade exhibition in the Asia-Pacific region.
DOMOTEX Turkey: Gaziantep, 23 to 26 May 2016 – Turkey’s leading trade fair for carpets and floor coverings.
Deutsche Messe AG
With revenue of 280 million euros (2014), Deutsche Messe AG ranks among the world’s ten largest trade fair companies and operates the world’s largest exhibition center. In 2014, Deutsche Messe planned and staged 134 trade fairs and congresses around the world – events which hosted a total of over 41,000 exhibitors and some 3.6 million visitors. The company’s event portfolio includes such world-leading trade fairs as CeBIT (IT and telecommunications), HANNOVER MESSE (industrial technology), BIOTECHNICA/LABVOLUTION (biotechnology and lab technology), CeMAT (intralogistics), didacta (education), DOMOTEX (floor coverings), INTERSCHUTZ (fire prevention and rescue), and LIGNA (wood processing and forestry). With approx. 1,200 employees and a network of 66 representatives, subsidiaries and branch offices, Deutsche Messe is present in more than 100 countries worldwide.
With revenue of 280 million euros (2014), Deutsche Messe AG ranks among the world’s ten largest trade fair companies and operates the world’s largest exhibition center. In 2014, Deutsche Messe planned and staged 134 trade fairs and congresses around the world – events which hosted a total of over 41,000 exhibitors and some 3.6 million visitors. The company’s event portfolio includes such world-leading trade fairs as CeBIT (IT and telecommunications), HANNOVER MESSE (industrial technology), BIOTECHNICA/LABVOLUTION (biotechnology and lab technology), CeMAT (intralogistics), didacta (education), DOMOTEX (floor coverings), INTERSCHUTZ (fire prevention and rescue), and LIGNA (wood processing and forestry). With approx. 1,200 employees and a network of 66 representatives, subsidiaries and branch offices, Deutsche Messe is present in more than 100 countries worldwide.
