Photo: © Gina Bascom Photography
New York City’s largest design festival takes place in one of the world’s most innovative design capitals, and celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. NYCxDESIGN: The Festival is a showcase of the latest and most innovative offerings in furniture, lighting, textiles and accessories — many of which you’ll see over the next several years in magazines, blogs, and galleries — with festival attendance from points far and near converging in the city’s five boroughs from May 10-20 . Design theory, urbanism, and big picture issues such as ecology and inequality enrich discussion panels and brainstorming workshops. And if you love modern things, you’ll be in design heaven with popular programs like Apartment Therapy’s Small/Cool that provide a serious opportunity to get ideas for your urban living space. Read on for a few highlights.
NYCxDESIGN is a non-profit organization committed to empowering and enhancing the city’s diverse creative community. The festival is based on two trade fairs, ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair) and Wanted Design Manhattan. In addition to the launches and shows, there are opening parties and receptions around every corner, and most neighborhood design shops and studios open the bubble to visitors; A full list of events can be found at creative hotspots such as Brooklyn Navy Yard and Industry City that act as design centers 365 days a year. The NYCxDESIGN Festival website offers a comprehensive full-picture calendar.
Photo: © Gina Bascom Photography
major events
ICFF New York City
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, 655 West 34th Street
May 15-17
The annual three-day high-end contemporary furniture design fair brings international design to the Javits Center in New York City. ICFF 2022 is an introduction to what’s best and what’s next in interior design for the 10,000 interior designers, architects, retailers, representatives, distributors, facility managers, developers, manufacturers, shop designers and visual merchandisers in attendance.
On May 15, the opening night party began on the rooftop of Javits Center; The exhibition opens its doors to the public on May 17th. Highlights include ICFF Studio and Collaborative Design: The Best of Portugal and Inside Norway, Wescover Lounge and Flavor Paper.
Manhattan design wanted Unite again with ICFF. Founded by Odile Hainaut and Claire Pijoulat, WantedDesign is a year-round events program with the goal of promoting design and nurturing the international creative community. Highlights of this year’s festival include the annual launchpad program introducing new products and new talent, ECO Solidarity 2022 and WantedDesign Talks. ICFF and WantedDesign Manhattan together bring together more than 300 well-known and emerging brands from more than 25 countries.
Image courtesy of NYCxDESIGN
Cooperatives and fairs
Apartment Therapy’s Small/Cool NYC. Small space home décor site, Apartment Therapy has launched the first-ever home design event that specifically highlights small space living. Small/Cool NYC features rooms under 120 square feet that have been revived by some of the industry’s best tastemakers, displaying a trend toward more efficient and lighter housing.
The public is invited to tour and shop among 12 small spaces that reflect innovative design trends with the big city in mind. Each product shown will be available for purchase on Apartmenttherapy.com. You’ll also be able to talk with experts, editors, and designers IRL or via Instagram Live, attend workshops, and more. From May 13-15, an interactive designer and trend show will present cool yet actionable decorating ideas.
Image courtesy of NYCxDESIGN
Student fairs present this year’s alumni work at some of the world’s leading design schools (which happen to be here in New York City): FIT and Pratt, among others, have student fairs during this year’s festival, and there’s a Student Show Night Event.
Canadian company EQ3 designs, produces and sells modern furniture, and the company is hosting a cocktail party at its Chelsea showroom on May 10, with a panel discussion on originality in design, DJs, and more.
ADORNO Design Collection presents “MELT,” an exhibition of thirty New York-based artists and designers in a three-level Williamsburg space. After opening on May 10, the gallery will be in space through the end of May, with 3,000 square feet of hands-on art that “reimagines the living room as an everyday home space.”
Chilewich Garden Party will present the beloved textile company’s newest seasonal product line, on display in their new 59th Street NYC store and showroom in the space’s large backyard garden. For the occasion, the Chilewich design team created a new weave that will only be available at the 59th Street location, with 100 percent sales for the World Central Kitchen.
Furniture designer Koros Maqsudi revealed his GO-GO AGE capsule collection at the Ian Schrager Lower East Side Hotel of the Year with a rooftop celebration that includes cocktails and skyline views.
In Brooklyn, the Kings County Distillery Beverage Factory x Design Happy Hour takes place May 18 as a gathering of like-minded revelers and fundraisers for year-round NYCxDESIGN programming.
The Open Shop brings together the work of Stephen Bukowski, Asa Pingree, Brendan Timmins, Hannah Biglezen, Zoe Mowat, Concrete Space Office, Kohler’s East Williamsburg Open Studio and Gallery event. During the day (12pm-4pm) the hours will offer HeadHi iced coffee, tea and books, and evening hours from 6pm-9pm will include drinks and a food truck.
Radiator is a showcase of home goods carefully crafted by a new generation of designers. Their second annual event will be held in the ArtCake production space in a converted 1920s industrial building in Sunset Park, Brooklyn May 11-17, with an inaugural reception from 6-8 p.m. on May 14.
Catherine Robinson Miller (ceramic), photo © Radhika Chalasani
Design areas: retail stores and studios in neighborhoods
Galleries, shops, and studios in the city’s design-intensive neighborhoods will stay open late with cocktail-assisted events for anyone who wanders, and open studios (check the Design Festival Open Studio Crawl for walking tours) will be a great opportunity to check out the work of local designers and artisans. Some highlights:
Soho Design District defines the official welcome mat on May 14, with Society Limonta, Tom Dixon, Kartell, Carl Hansen & Søn, Original BTC, among others, holding events, launching new products, or just offering refreshments and plenty of Great drinks, things to lull. Many design events will take place on other days, so check the calendar if you’re in the neighborhood.
The City of Industry in Sunset Park, Brooklyn is home to hundreds of manufacturers, designers, and other innovators in the city. For the occasion, the City of Industry Design Festival is presenting a full calendar of events from May 12-16, starting with the opening night opening ceremony and the film screening event. Expect to open studios, talks, galleries, and more.
Photo submitted by Michael Varian
The Brooklyn Design District showroom tour of Atlantic Avenue is a breakfast event on Wednesday morning, May 11, featuring dignitaries such as Michele Varian, Mud Australia, and The Primary Essentials.
In the creative district of Williamsburg/Bushwick, the open-air Humboldt Street Studios at 810 Humboldt Street offers a behind-the-scenes look at contemporary design at four creative studios including Fort Standard, Bower, Patrick Weder and Adam Rusu Studio.
Filter suite design. Submission by CLB Architects. Image courtesy of NYCxDESIGN
Talks, lessons, workshops, interactive events and fixtures
DWR celebrates women in design: Join Design Within Reach on May 11 for a discussion with the women who lead the design field in furniture, interior design, fashion and art. (limited capacity; RSVP only)
Design Pavilion returns to New York City, inviting the public to interact and participate in design in Times Square and surrounding neighborhoods from May 10-15. CLB Architects will present FILTER, a 20-foot-high steel elliptical pavilion intended to serve as a “monument to the natural environment in the urban landscape” in Times Square. You’ll be able to enter the structure for a moment from the shelter in Midtown’s mad dash.
Dieter Rams / Looking Back and Forward. German industrial designer Dieter Rams is known for creating items that are used on a daily basis and for his influence on young designers. Organized by the Goethe-Institut and curated by Klaus Klemp, this exhibition displays thirty objects selected by Dieter Rams as well as photographs, copies and text.
Visualize Your Career: Emerging Designer Tours. In two sessions on Saturday, May 14, Brooklyn’s Navy Yard will host a program for teens ages 15-19 interested in a career in design and manufacturing. The event will include a tour and the chance to meet many of the designers working in their studios and see how they got their start. Participants will also stop at Brooklyn STEAM Center High School, an innovative on-site high school focused on careers in design and manufacturing.
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icff, city of industry, NYC X Design Festival, nycxdesign, design wanted