“Now in its 51st edition, NeoCon is the leading event for the commercial design industry and provides a platform for innovation and new ideas. The event is held in Chicago every June and has been running since the first show took place in 1969. The exhibitors aim to offer new ideas and innovation that helped shape our world today and into the near future. It is a meeting point for leading manufacturers and new companies to mingle and showcase thousands of products from different fields. This includes services and products from all kinds of disciplines including furniture, fabrics, flooring, building products and technology. We have put together a guide to this years event which includes a highlight of some of the best exhibitors.
The NeoCon Plaza – Outdoor Workspaces
This year’s edition of NeoCon saw the announcement of a new exhibition space outside and the unveiling of the new NeoCon Plaza. It provides an outdoor space for visitors to enjoy a break from being indoors but also looks to focus on outdoor workspace design. It highlights the importance of outdoor workspaces in commercial environments and the benefits they can bring to your business. The boardwalk was built by Skender Construction with the furniture provided by Haworth Collection Brands with lounge seating and outdoor furnishings. There are of course a range of ways that people can work outdoors and the NeoCon Plaza highlights how you can use outdoor space for meetings, brainstorming and more.
Leading Brands – Herman Miller and Davis Furniture
NeoCon also saw some of the leading brands in furniture and design make some large announcements. Herman Miller has been based at theMART in Chicago for 80 years but have announced they will be moving to the chic industrial Fulton District in Chicago. They hope the change in address will lead to further innovation and collaboration between the family of brands under their umbrella. Davis Furniture is also celebrating 75 years in business with eight new products at its NeoCon Showroom. As one of the last family-run businesses in design, they have created 8 stylish products for all kinds of purposes including benches and tables as well as their new executive chair the M75.
Conclusion
This year’s show highlights the continuously changing nature of the workplace and places importance on alternative workspaces. Several talks at the event focused on the importance of outdoor space including “Outdoor Workplace Evolution” and “The Outdoor Office: The Next Big Thing”. This could suggest that we can expect to see more companies developing outdoor furniture pieces in the near future. Some of the leading furniture brands also launched new products with a focus on providing an informal workspace for staff to convene. It is becoming increasingly important to vary your workspace in order to enable creativity and innovation in the workplace. These overarching themes mirror trends we have seen elsewhere which suggest that the traditional office desk might become less important in the near future.”
By: Richard Edwards
Published: 12th June 2019