Industry figureheads to present seminars at kbb Birmingham 2010

(12/01/2010)

To date, over 240 companies are confirmed for the kbb Birmingham 2010 show, including Abode, Allied Kingswood, Carron Phoenix, CDA, Coram Showers, Cosentino, Crosswater, Croydex, De Dietrich, Eco Bathrooms, Elica, Grohe, Hepplewhite, HiB, Laufen, Matki, Pegler, Planit, Poggenpohl, Reginox, Roca, Scavolini, TC, Twyford and William Ball. New companies signed within the last few weeks include Castello Luxury Baths, Crown LifeSpace, Cuisine Sagne, Groundwork Terracotta & Stone, Inspire 2 Heat, Liebherr, Marble Heating Company, Rotpunkt Kϋchen and Swiss Taps.

kbb Birmingham 2010 seminar speakers Robin Levien, Paolo Pininfarina, Roberto Palomba and Henrik Otto, share their opinions on key trends or the next ‘big thing' for 2010 and beyond.

Understandably the recession is still having an effect on design, predicts Product Designer Robin Levien of Studio Levien: "I believe that economic conditions have a major bearing on design. It was the past 15 years of prosperity up to the current recession that gave rise to minimalism, which is a style that requires some bravery. Insecurity is making us look back again, this time it's the middle of the last century. Bright colours are back to cheer us up in furniture and accessories."

Paolo Pininfarina of Pininfarina Extra also focuses on how the recession will affect the sourcing of materials: "Due to the economical recession, I suppose manufacturers and designers are now mainly concentrated towards the exploration of new materials and the rationalisation of the manufacturing and in-house assembly processes." Here, Pininfarina highlights a current hot topic: environmental concerns.

Designer Roberto Palomba of PS+A puts an even stronger emphasis on green issues: "We must create projects that are ecologically correct! We should have a very serious approach to design in this sense. Nothing can be projected nowadays without thinking of the future of our children."

Henrik Otto of Electrolux expects things to get smaller: "You are going to see a real take off of compact ovens. Steam is going to be very big too. And you are going to see a take off en masse on induction cooking.” These thoughts are echoed by Electrolux’s Design Lab 2010 competition, this year students are invited to design home appliances that consider shrinking domestic spaces. The winners of the 2009 competition will be shown at kbb Birmingham 2010, from 21-24 March.

All of the above industry figureheads will be presenting seminars at kbb Birmingham 2010, taking place at the NEC, Birmingham from 21-24 March 2010.

Mike Lawrence, CEO of Waterline Group stated: “We are proud to be supporting the industry at kbb Birmingham 2010, and we are delighted that we will be exhibiting the latest products from our Rotpunkt range of German kitchen furniture and also delighted to showcase the Crown LifeSpace range. kbb Birmingham is the ideal forum for lots of our customers to see how exciting the total Crown format has become in the past two years”.

Related categories:  Baths   Cookers hobs ovens   Kitchen appliances   Showers