Dubai-based consulting editor, design journalist and interior architect Pratyush Sarup curates the key trends emerging from Downtown Design 2017.
Gold, silver, crystals and semi-precious gemstones – some of the leading design brands turn to noble materials, lending refinement and timeless elegance to our interiors.
As we display a more conscientious approach to consumerism, this reconnection with precious natural materials reflects our appreciation for quality and preference for understated luxury. The familiarity of noble materials, bolstered with the latest in production technology brings together the best of artisanal culture and design innovation to create new icons.
LIVING Georg Jensen lends everyday luxury with its refined collection for dining, decor and gifts. Combining functionality with great design and a flair for the arts, their works featuring yellow and rose gold finishes, and silver, display the highest order of metal crafts while responding to the contemporary vision of their many collaborating designers.
To be used for architectural, lighting and interior designing solutions, Spanish brand, KriskaDECOR makes highly original metallic chain products. Composed of small interlinked pieces of anodised aluminium, the lightweight metal mesh can be used for indoor and outdoor spaces, and can further be customized in size, volume, colour and to include personalised logos, patterns or images. Sophie Mallebranche creates exquisite engineered bespoke metal materials that draw on her training as a colourist. Designed to expand luminosity, her metal fabrics are available in an array of vivid colours and compositions.Purveyors of investment worthy, rare design-art, Luxdemob pride themselves in creating one-of-a-kind, bespoke furniture pieces. Featuring gold, semi-precious stones and the most refined natural materials, their works are best described as fine jewellery for the interior.
Produced in northern Bohemia, a region renowned for mouth blown glass and the finest crystal, Sans Souci's lighting products are unique works of art. A fusion of crystal clear glass, refined metals and the latest in lighting technology - like Preciosa, the Czech leaders in luxury illumination - Sans Souci creates breathtaking lighting moments that celebrate their precious palette. Santa & Cole and Occhio offer modern interpretations of noble materiality through minimal, contemporary designs.
Fratelli Frattini and THG Paris bring refinement to the bathroom with their collections of fittings featuring crystals, semi-precious stones and metals; while Zip, creators of HydroTap – the world’s most advanced filtered boiling, chilled and sparkling water tap – lend a golden flourish to the high-tech kitchen.
To register to attend Downtown Design 2017, click here
Pratyush Sarup, a Dubai-based Consulting Editor and Journalist specialising in architecture, design and art, is one of the most regarded analytical authorities on design in the Middle East. Follow him on Instagram @pratyush.sarup.
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