NYCxDesign 2022: Highlights From a Whirlwind New York Design Week

Though it might not yet carry the same clout as theSalone del Mobileor Dutch Design Week, NYCxDesign, otherwise known as New York Design Week, is beginning to give its European counterparts a run for their money. Recognized brands, leading galleries, groundbreaking curatorial collectives, independent studios, and emerging talents took the opportunity to make a splash duringthis year’s event(notably, its 10th edition). Exhibitors debuting their latest wares to a national and international audience eagerly shared what they’d been working on over the past two years.

The Right Representation

The week started off withBespoke Only’s Vision & Voices panel discussion, hosted at theStellar Worksflagship in Tribeca. Coinciding with Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, the talk explored the nuances of identity and race within the design industry. Panelists included Tariq Dixon, founder ofTRNK NYC, Jean Lee, cofounder ofLadies & Gentlemen Studio, Andrea Hill, founder ofTortuga Forma, Melissa Lee, founder of Bespoke Only, as well as design writer William Li. The panel highlighted the opportunity for creatives to build inclusive environments—ones that can help forge dialogues and unite AAPI designers amid the current spate of anti-Asian aggressions. And to that end, on May 16, theAsian American Pacific Islander Design Alliance—an organization committed to mobilizing and empowering AAPI professionals in the home and design industries—hosted its first panel at theSchumachershowroom with speakers including Young Huh, Jean Liu, and Rosie Li, among others.

WhileColonyfounder Jean Lin launched the new Phila initiative, which puts forth bespoke collections to raise funds for various charitable causes, Brooklyn designerMinjae Kimdebuted new one-off furnishings alongside paintings by his mother, MyoungAe Lee, atMatter Projects. On view through July 29, the exhibition reveals the rich lineage and kindred spirit between the two creatives. On May 5, Jean and Oliver Pelle of the namesakedesign studiounveiled their sprawling, post-industrial workshop/gallery in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Block Shop’s wallpaper in the Poppies pattern.

Photo courtesy Block Shop

The Main Event

At the center of everything was the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF): the staple event that has joined forces with multifaceted platform WantedDesign, since 2019. This year’s showcase brought together many high-profile American brands likeAstek(which won the 2022 ICFF Editors Award for best wallcoverings), Italian manufacturerUniq-E(winner of the Kitchen & Bath prize), and Brooklyn-based furniture practicePiscina(winner of both the New Designer and Best in Show awards). With its new partner, the fair also highlighted several up-and-comers likeSimon Johns—a Canadian designer taking the industry by storm with his clever use of material. WantedDesign also displayed various projects from theEco Solidarityinitiative, an international organization taking a serious look at what “green” design actually entails. Kia Weatherspoon, a talent based in Washington, D.C., who is president ofDetermined by Designand a professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design, took home the title of Designer of the Year.

The Leadlife accessories collection by Jaspers Eyers for Ethnicraft.

Photo courtesy Ethnicraft

Additional product highlights at the fair included the debut ofDanver’sUrbanecollection, with designer Daniel Germani in-booth to show off the unit’s finer details. AtEthnicraft, fairgoers encountered moody, architecturally-inspired wood accessories, and we expect to see many of them propping bookshelves and desks for years to come. Los Angeles favoritesBzippy & CoandBlock Shop交付拥戴的介绍,with the former showing larger sizes than ever before and the latter debuting wallpaper (and a new, nostalgic, floral pattern, called Poppy, that is sure to make waves with decorators everywhere). Capturing the imagination of designers—or at least us editors at AD PRO—Emtekdisplayed their 3D-printed, limited-edition Galapagos collection, designed by William Zhang. Since no two pieces in the line are alike, pros can give clients a true one-of-a-kind design. Finally, Warp & Weft’scollaboration with Deborah Berkemade a big impression at the fair’s entrance, with understated rug designs that evoke the changing quality of light from dawn to dusk.

The Galapagos collection from Emtek.

Photo courtesy Emtek

Making the Most of Real Estate

Though the ICFF remained the anchor of NYCxDesign, a lot of the excitement took place in the city’s showrooms.Herman Millerteamed up with the newly-formedEames Instituteto mount window displays and vignettes with ephemeral items that offered more insight into the life and work of this famous design duo. While local lighting brandRich Brilliant Willinglaunched its prismatic Print collection in its SoHo studio, luxury furniture purveyorHaute Livingopened its showroom in Chelsea. Nearby, Canadian furniture manufacturerEQ3activated its multistory flagship with a staging byCrosby StudiosandDream Awake.

On May 16, Amy Astley,AD’s global editorial director and U.S. editor in chief, hosted a special evening atMolteni&C’s Madison Avenue flagship alongside Vincent Van Duysen, the company’s creative director. Not a bad way to celebrate the launch of the Living Box collection—and the brand’s attractive, newly renovated showroom.

From unique displays atFrama’s New York outpost,Lambert & Fils’s Tribeca showroom, and the “Flower Craft” exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), florals were in abundance—putting specialists like Brooklyn-basedFernando Kabigtingin high demand.

Chairs, Anti-Chairs, and Painted Cabinets

Boutique showcases could be found everywhere, from the Upper East Side to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Design-minded coffee shopHead Hipresented a chair collection by Brianna Nichole Love, founder ofFern, which draws inspiration from traditional African haircombs.Emma Scully Galleryasked several recognized designers—including Chris Wolston, Bradley Bowers, and the design firm Jumbo—to use this archetype in order to create conceptual works that address today’s complex political landscape. The “Anti Chairs” exhibition is on view until July 1.

The Magna Chair, by Charles Constantine, part of the Sight Unseen collaboration with Bestcase.

Photo courtesy Sight Unseen

On May 7,Sight Unseenlaunched its first-ever capsule collection. Teaming up with furniture brandBestcase, the renowned design blog commissioned talents like Thévoz-Choquet, Home Studios, and Studio Anansi to imagine bespoke metal tables, chairs, and even a decorative screen with a minimalist, yet playful, quality. Elsewhere,The Future Perfect’s Casa Perfectpresented three distinct showcases:Ben and Aja Blanc’s latest Kingdom For a Horse furniture and lighting series, Eindhoven-based collectiveDutch Invertuals’s first foray into NFTs, andFreelingWaters’s hand-painted cabinets. Restrained organicism, optical illusion, and an unexpected use of material ran through all three activations. Dutch design was everywhere: On Canal Street, Roman and Williams’sGuild Gallerydisplayed intuitive stonework by self-taught sculptor Mirjam de Nijs.

Group Shows Galore

If that wasn’t enough already, a slew of thematic group shows also took hold at NYCxDesign. TheFemale Design Council, headed by Lora Appleton, mounted an exhibition at heritage Danish furniture producerCarl Hansen & Son’sFlatiron showroom. Incorporating one-off pieces by Arielle Assouline-Lichten, Yolande Milan Batteau, Kate Danessa, and others, the showcase focused on the use of craft to subvert traditional gender roles. Boston-basedSalon Designopened its new Nolita outpost, with a juried exhibition featuring 20 contemporary makers working in the functional art sphere. Those featured in the “Metamorphosis” exhibition included River Valadez, Ashley Page, and the design firm Laun.

Los Angeles–based platformSizedmounted its second exhibit in Donna Karan’s striking West Village residential complex. Titled “Industrialism,” the display—curated by Alexander May and on view until May 28—brought together a wide array of collectible furnishings, artworks, and even a rare 1980s Lamborghini jeep (furnished byMorton St. Partners) to support its theme.

Otras Formas, a buzzy, new design brand launched by Alex Lithgow, former head of design at Dmitriy & Co., exhibited inaugural “footed” and “serif end” collections, with furnishings by Kin & Company, Algierwork, and James Dieter.

Elsewhere, theCurrentshowcase (curated by Brooklyn-based artists Tess and Marcus De Paula), included works by a group of talents based in the New York region, who straddle the divide between fine art and contemporary design. A lot of crossover ran through the various exhibitions: Talents like woodworkerLuke Malaney, for instance, presented in both this group show andAdorno/HNH Gallery’s “Melt” exhibit.Natalia Landowska’sporcelain, shell-like sconces were featured in both the Current and Salon Design showcases.

Furnishings from newcomer Otras Formas.

Photo: Alexandra Rowley

Mums the Word

Topping everything off was the debut ofApparatus’s Act IV series. The all-encompassing collection of Deco-inspired furniture, lighting, and accessories, which celebrated the design aesthetic of the 1960s, married handcrafted materials and machine precision. The wares were dramatically staged within the practice’s palatial Midtown studio, where no detail went overlooked. Apparatus also mounted Mums, a three-night jazz club featuring award-winning band the Baylor Project. The showroom overflowed with golden-yellow chrysanthemums and the revelry of a design community united once again.

A nightcap with Apparatus at Mums, the brand’s Design Week fete.

Photo: Dina Latovsky