Living Design Fair attracts record crowd
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A dining room designed by Dodot, a local living design brand/ Courtesy of Seoul Living Design Fair
By Yun Suh-young
The annual Seoul Living Design Fair ended its five-day run on Sunday after attracting the largest number of visitors in its 20-year history.
More than 210,000 people visited the event at COEX in southern Seoul where 200 companies around the world featured their cutting-edge furniture and interior design items under the theme of “Happy Family.”
Casamia, a Korean company, won the exhibition’s Grand Prize with its “Room of Time” display booth, which highlighted the way digital technology is influencing the designs and functions of furniture.
Several European companies, such as Italy’s Pininfarina and Italdesign-Giugiaro and the Netherlands’ Studio INEKEHANS and Studio Schrofer were also represented at COEX.
“ Big name brands were here, but small and medium-sized brands were also more noticeable this year than before,” said Koo Jin-hoe, exhibition manager of Design House which co-hosted the event with COEX.
“Past exhibitions were centered on traditional furniture, but we saw more interior items tailored for individuals this year. The number of participating brands increased by 10 percent compared to last year. So we tried to maximize the space to accommodate them all.”
Reputed Korean designers Suh Young-hee and Chang Kwang-ho displayed their latest works in the “Designer’s Choice” part of the exhibition where the particular focus was dining room design.
Another notable exhibition was “Cortile Italia,” which highlighted the Italian influence in housing and interior design over the years. The program was in commemoration of the 130th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Italia.
A seminar, titled “About D,” was also held to debate the latest international trends in interior design.
The fair was an active arena for not just buyers and designers trying to get a glimpse of the latest living trends but also for ordinary consumers who wanted to purchase hip interior items for home. They actively asked questions and received business cards from the brand representatives at the venue.
Danish adjustable-desk producing living brand Jensen attracted middle-aged buyers and office workers to the show booth while stationary brand Knock which prints world maps attracted younger consumers such as students and designers.
Another prominent trend in this year’s fair was the increase of male visitors, organizers said, which showed the increasing interest among men in lifestyle products.
Airbnb, a house-sharing service, also had a booth set up at the fair to promote their service along with the living design brands.
“Since the brand is a house-sharing brand, it is closely related to interior design. We wanted to promote the brand through a couple of interior design concepts we exhibited,” said an Airbnb official at the exhibit.
The next Seoul Living Design Fair will be held from Apr. 1 to 5 next year at the COEX under the theme “hobby.”