Trendsetter

Like hurricanes, trends are easy to spot but take an expert to predict. Thankfully, every June the organizers of the IMM Cologne furniture fair send five creative experts into a room to interpret currents like the best weathermen, getting a fix on what’s happening before the main event rolls around in January. This year New York–based designer Stephen Burks, of ReadyMade Projects, joined architect Eero Koivisto, materials specialist Christiane Sauer, designer Fabio Novembre, and journalist Sophie Lov­ell. Each participant presented projects he or she found inspiring and then, as Burks describes the pro­cess, the group had to “hash it out and categorize the uncategorizable.”

The results have been published in “Interior Trends 2008,” which features materials, shapes, colors, and patterns representing the four movements the panel identified—Outside In, Neo Nature, Design School, and Priceless. Offering Metropolis a glimpse of the future, Burks chose one product that exemplifies each trend. Check out his forecast.