Ambiente Trends 2020

Ambiente Trends 2020 is one of the highlights at the world’s leading consumer goods exhibition. What are the new styles, materials, themes and product mixes for the coming year? The answers can be found at Ambiente, from 7 to 11 February 2020.

Ambiente Trends cover a broad spectrum, offering an overview of the entire industry and its new products. These will be researched and curated for Messe Frankfurt by the design studio Stilbüro bora.herke.palmisano. The studio will be sifting through the most ground-breaking influences in the areas of design, art, architecture, fashion and lifestyle.

Products for the three trendworlds will be selected from the collections of nearly 4,500 Ambiente exhibitors, providing a tangible experience of future trends. “Trends are the outcome of aspirations and needs that arise from changes in our environment. These aspirations express themselves in new or rediscovered shapes, patterns and functions.

“Ambiente Trends are identified for us each year by the design studio Stilbüro bora.herke.palmisano. They help our visitors at Ambiente to prepare thoroughly for the coming business year,” says Nicolette Naumann, Vice President of Ambiente.

For 2020 the design studio has selected three thematic trends to present at Ambiente: shaped+softened, precise+architectural and artistical+diverse.

Shaped + Softened Trendworld

Functional furniture achieves a sculptural quality by adding soft shapes and emphatic contours. This powerful effect is enhanced by a neutral palette of reduced colours with white and shades of grey, sometimes warm and sometimes cool. The surfaces are smooth, soft or textured. Glass, either satin or transparent, impeccable porcelain and rough ceramics inspire enthusiasm, both visually and with their tactile qualities. Textiles are natural and suitable for daily use, often bearing images that are full of movement and irregularities. Particularly effective materials are translucent fibres and pleats, light wood, and wallpapers featuring a tone-in-tone painting technique.

Precise+Architectural Trendworld

A touch of industrialism is added to high-quality materials in this architecturally inspired range of colours, with tones of brick and cement as well as rusty burnished nuances and float glass green. They create a captivating ambience, enhanced by dusky dimness and the blue of the evening sky, set within otherwise starkly designed spaces that focus on essentials. These innovative combinations conjure up cosy clubs and a strong emphasis on material aesthetics. Terrazzo, polished or blackened wood, glass, steel, bronze and surfaces with a matte finish or a subdued gloss effect harmonise with leather, heavy textiles such as cord, tweed, bouclé and velour as well as with geometric designs and mottled patterns.

Artistical+Diverse Trendworld

This style turns a living space into a personal collage. With its artistic character, unusual colours and diverse combinations, it has a stimulating effect. The pallet displays a refreshing mixture of bright orange, fruity raspberry, milky colours, strong honey and lively sky-blue. In this multidisciplinary and multi-local interaction between art, craft and digital technology, “controlled chance” plays a central role. Each object has its own unique character, thanks to the creative use of a variety of new materials, unusual manufacturing processes, unconventional themes and special shapes.

Talks, audio guide and booklet

Each day the design studio gives exclusive talks on the platform of the Ambiente Academy in Hall 9.1, at 11:30 hrs and 14:30 hrs. Using a wide range of examples, Annetta Palmisano provides in-depth insights into the styles that will dominate tomorrow’s world.

There is also an audio guide inviting Ambiente visitors to immerse themselves in this powerful special presentation – at any time and at their own pace. The audio guide is available for all visitors in both English and German via the Ambiente Navigator app.

Find out more: Ambiente