Working It in Milan

A springtime ritual, the mainly residential Milan Furniture Fair draws a steady stream of Americans from the contract sector including interior designers and product designers, manufacturers, and dealers. Who wants to miss the fabulous pattern, texture, color, or finish that could spark the next contract trend? And those who almost stayed home this year found out that even when European design is somewhat uninspired, there are still ideas to be gleaned. The organizers of Eimu.2002 Comfort & Technology—11th International Office Furniture Exhibition, the biennial show that runs concurrently at the Milan fairgrounds, counted on their share of spillover traffic from the main event. Those who did spend at least three days in Milan, and were able to squeeze in this primarily Italian office furniture show, didn't see anything radically new since the last Eimu. This was not a surprise. Expectations hadn't been high because of the sluggish economy before and after 9/11.

Eimu's 170 exhibitors sprawled over two-and-a-half pavilions on the way to the kitchen show, Eurocucina. Manufacturers' emphasis continues to be on providing businesses with the agility to easily and inexpensively reconfigure themselves according to marketplace conditions. The exorbitant cost of real estate is also a high-priority workplace issue around the globe, and European designers have responded with a sea of compact furniture offerings. This trend is being fueled by the wireless revolution and the movement toward laptops, which are replacing cumbersome desktop computers. Wire management, when needed, is incorporated into the work surfaces themselves, so workstation panels are becoming thinner and lighter. Designers are also keeping mobility in mind: we saw lots of casters on desks, tables, and chairs. Lightweight, aluminum frames were often paired with light-colored wood tops, such as maple and oak. And there were so many English-named products (presumably to hook Americans dealers or manufacturers looking to pick up an import), that we sometimes felt as if we were at Javits—until it was time for another Capuccino.

Besides Italian exhibitors, Eimu hosted neighbors from Germany and France. But where were the "big five"? We could only find Haworth, which shared a sizable stand with its European companies Castelli and COM. There were also fewer Americans scouting the floor to strike a deal with European office furniture contenders. This was disappointing to quite a few exhibitors, and one vendor whose products are already being carried in the United States was wondering why her dealer hadn't come to Milan this year. Maybe they had a chance to catch up face to face at NeoCon® (the next stop for many exhibitors we talked to, though some just did a walk-through) or at Orgatec in October, where you can catch the best of Eimu if you didn't get to Milan. And by then the prototypes will have their kinks worked out.