GERMANY – How comfort can be combined with small living spaces is an issue that is driving the interiors industry.

From New York to Berlin, Tokyo to São Paulo – living space is in short supply in attractive urban areas. The result is sky-rocketing rents and house prices, and hence more and more people are having to make do with smaller and smaller homes. But this trend doesn’t necessarily have to mean sacrificing comfort in the home, and showing how is a challenge for the furniture and interior design industry. With its new Tiny Spaces showcase, interzum is addressing this highly topical issue. The world’s leading trade fair for suppliers to the furniture industry has succeeded in securing a line-up of distinguished industry names to appear in its showcase. Atim, Blum, Hettich, Hommel, Häfele and Pessotto – these companies will present their answers to the specific requirements of living in tiny spaces.

Traditionally crucial momentum for new developments in interior design has come from suppliers to the industry. And these suppliers are also playing a vital role in the use of space: real wonders in small-scale living can be achieved with the right fittings and new solutions that open up the space inside furniture. Six companies will demonstrate how at the special exhibition Tiny Spaces – Living in Compact Homes. With a selection of different market-ready solutions, they have set out to make functionality the focus of attention. In a true-to-life presentation, visitors will be able to explore home living in miniature.

All the participating companies are convinced that demand for space-saving solutions is set to grow: among the products on show at the special Tiny Spaces event will be an electric cabinet bed system with a folding sofa by Pessotto that combines living and sleeping in a single space-saving design. Fellow supplier Atim from Italy also has some innovative systems up its sleeve: “We’ve developed an item of furniture specially for Tiny Spaces that showcases ten different space-saving solutions,” says Vanessa Moretti, Sales Manager at Atim. Visitors will be able to test the different elements themselves and discover what “you need to furnish small spaces”.

Blum also has some creative furniture ideas to contribute to the special event: “We want to show how future living spaces can be used multifunctional,” says Michael Mandlburger, Head of Product Management at Blum. “On a rotating display area, trade fair visitors will be able to see surprising solutions for living rooms, bathrooms and hallways – all practice-oriented and completely suitable for use in daily life.” One thing is crucial to Blum here: many of tomorrow’s homes will certainly be urban and smaller – but there will also be more generously proportioned and open houses and apartments. “Our solutions can be adapted to all needs, from large to small living spaces.”

“We’re already seeing growing demand for compact, multifunctional living spaces,” says Matthias Hommel, Managing Director of Hommel, based in the Vogtland region of Saxony. The company will use the exhibition space to present a micro-apartment as a complete solution that visitors can enter and experience in all its functionality. “Our objective is to present our concept as a whole and show it in application by combining and implementing very different industry products in our interior construction.”

Tiny Spaces – Living in Compact Homes not only benefits trade fair visitors. The exhibition also offers significant advantages for the participating companies, as Claudia Civelli, Export Manager at Pessotto, summarizes on behalf of the participants: “Tiny Spaces doubles the opportunities to showcase our appearance at the trade fair.” In addition to their own stand, the companies can highlight their immense capacity for innovation in a themed area that, as past experience has demonstrated, attracts a large audience.
“The Tiny Spaces special exhibition is a perfect example of interzum’s positioning,” says Maik Fischer, Director of interzum. “The event acts as the link between customer needs and the furniture industry. Our exhibitors have an instinct for market needs. They develop solutions for these requirements and thereby enable furniture manufacturers to deploy functional and innovative components so that they in turn can produce innovative products.”

Tiny Spaces is an extension of interzum’s overall concept: “The fair’s event character will be emphasized even more at interzum 2019. As part of this, alongside our outstanding international exhibitors, we are presenting various thematically focused special events. From digitalization to disruptive materials and tiny spaces, the furniture industry will find inspiration for all the issues that are currently driving the sector at interzum 2019. The Tiny Spaces Piazza is a new trade fair highlight.”