DKOR Principal, Ivonne Ronderos, Reviews Maison & Objet – International Interior Designers

As International Interior Designers, we’ve visited many trade shows, from HD Boutique in Las Vegas, NV to Isaloni in Milan, Italy but Maison & Objet is a show we’ve been trying to catch up to throughout the past few years that we had not been able to visit. The rumor spread quickly a few years ago that it was coming to visit Miami, so we jumped at the oppor tunity to visit it.

It was located in the Miami Beach Convention center, as most of our shows are, but only took up a small portion of the building. The booths were small and only a selected few were really outfitted the way one may expect to see a luxury brand featured. We were hoping to see much more exhibitors but this may just be typical for a first year event. There were a few interesting booths nonetheless and the talks were great! I’ve listed the Maison & Objet exhibitor list below in case you’re curious.

Luckily our attendance coincided with a chat by celebrity interior designer,  KARIM RASHID: FROM ANALOG TO DIGITAL. It was a pleasant surprise. I’m going to admit, I had my own preconceived idea that a designer at this level whom is probably asked at least a dozen times PER day if not more, “how do you like it? What do you like?,” would speak mostly about what “HE  liked.”

…it was the opposite. Most, if not all the decision process was dictated and designed around the “end user.” From sourcing out the building material, to the price point and the ergonomic factor for the average American user. Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

“Interior design is not about the designer, it’s about the end user”

“Problem solving is design”

“Always consider sustainability during the material selection. This is our responsibility.”

“Luxury is knowing what we’re meant to do.”

“Luxury is time to get to do what we were meant to do.”

“Luxury is being challenged because of that.”

“Originality is usually caused because of a shift in technology.”

“Inspire yourself by looking around and being present in the world, look at how people are using things and interacting with their surroundings and each other.”

“Everything we design is in 2d and you need to step out of that box.” This probably explains the voluminous influence most of his pieces share.  

“Lets live in 4d; that’s our present experience and our truest form of luxury”; 

“I only designs in 3d. We can design in 3d because we have the tools to do it. 2d gave us 3d which gives us 4d which is our experience around the world.” according to Karim Rashid. I highly recommend one of his chats.

Ever since I heard this last statement, I’ve begun to push myself to see things with more dimension for inspiration. I’m not just referring to a typical 2d interior design elevation (this is what we call a front view of a wall or object) but also more dimensions in our clients. Our designs and concepts derive from them so the more we are sensitive to what makes them different and empathize with their concept of home, the closer we get to creating a perfect interior for THEM. 🙂

For more exhibitors from the Maison & Objet show:

http://www.maison-objet.com/en/americas/exhibitors