DMY Berlin is an international design network for contemporary product design. For a few days (Thursday – Sunday) this platform did not only hold an exhibition at one of Berlin’s well-known historical spaces – the airport Berlin Tempelhof – but also organized different events throughout the town.

sisterMAG went to see the newest trends in furniture and product design. Luckily we had the expert with us on this sunny and warm day since we met up with Chrissi who works as category manager Living for dawanda. With her we wandered over the 20.000 sqm of exhibition space.

These huge halls of the old airport were perfect for exhibiting furniture, hand-knitted rugs, lamps or home accessories. While on the one hand many products were absolutely clean and minimalistic, another trend to see was opulent textures and structures, as it could be seen with smoked chair covers from Hans Sapperlot.

Wood Trends from DMY

(1) Coordination Berlin (2) Ontwerp Duo (3) Valerie Hebel

Right in the middle of the main hall there was a little wooden fence with a long table inside. Four designers (Agentur Montag) were cooking for guests. You could just pay at the front, sit down and eat as much as you wanted of their mashed potatoes, carrots and broccoli. They told me afterwards that the whole ensemble was handmade out of old wood, thrifted cutlery and as lamps they only used the bare metal of a lampshade. Definitely one of my favourite ideas from DMY.

Other than that the mood and atmosphere was really very relaxed and friendly. You could have a look at each exhibited piece without rushing but the designers seemed to happily enjoy conversations with interested people.

What design trends have you found to be really compelling in the last months? I really like the movement towards copper which is such a wonderful colour. Furthermore the dominance of wood – especially when combined with pastel colours – is evident and I love it! In the department of vases and home decor I really like the trend to very clean and geometric vases …

Geometry

(1) Ulrike Sandner (2) Parts – tableware collection in ceramics by ett la benn (3) Nino Gülker

It was also an exhibition of large contrasts. Tiny little gardens by a Dutch design studio (ontwerpduo) on the one hand. The largest “smoking” technique I’ve ever seen on the other hand made by Hans Sapperlot!

And in the end Toni got little grumpy. Thus it was high time for a little sugar. Luckily there was a great organic snack bar in the middle of the hangar. Full of pots with basil, rustic bread sandwiches and ice cream. What a day ;)
Have a lovely day and looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Yours, Thea