WGN-TV Show Notes — June 22, 2004

At last week’s NeoCon Show at McCormick Place, the new mixed with the sort of new and the hot stuff popped. Hot colors, cool designs and environmentally sustainable materials ruled the day. The designers seemed inspired by nature.

This is Tulip from Kron. We’re unveiling it at NeoCon 2004. It’s a high-end auditorium seating. It’s got some neat applications.

The Tulip chair, named for the flower, offers comfortable seating in cramped quarters.

While at the other end of the floor, the Sum chair stunned lookers with it’s built in charms.

“When we started the project, we started making a list of all the criteria we wanted in the chair. Good ergonomics, good price point, user friendly, things like that and when you add it all up, you get Sum,” says Marcus Koepke, Marcus Curtis Design.

The Sum chair retails for around $800. If you’re going to spend that kind of cash on a chair, you might want to have the proper desk to go with it. The Gold Award this year was worn by this desk set, which was designed to give it’s occupant flexibility with doors and trays that slide in and out, up and down.

And on the environmental side, can you believe this fabric comes from corn?

“It can be decomposed. So when mixed with sawdust, organic material, hay after 72 hours at 140 degrees, it can turn into this, which can be used as fertilizer to then grow the corn again,” says Michelle Postema, Herman Miller.

The folks at Herman Miller are hoping that a process that spins corn into cloth will actually put gold in their bank account.

Finally, coming soon to a house near you, the recycled kitchen, while the countertops are new, the aluminum in this design has been recycled. But the entire valcucine kitchen is made to be recycled someday, when the owner is ready to renovate.

RESOURCES

HERMAN MILLER
8485 HOMESTEAD DRIVE
ZEELAND, MI 49464
(616) 654-7015
WWW.HERMANMILLER.COM

MARCUS KOEPKE
MARCUS CURTIS DESIGN
[email protected]

ALLSTEEL
THE SUM CHAIR
2210 SECOND AVENUE
MUSCATINE, IOWA 52761
563-262-4800
WWW.ALLSTEELOFFICE.COM

VALCUCINE
RECYCLED KITCHENS
MERCHANDISE MART, SUITE 106
WWW.CACUCINE.IT

Copyright © 2004, WGN-TV

June 22, 2004.