5 Seating Picks from ICFF

Hours before the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) closed its four-day run on Tuesday, the winners of this year’s ICFF Editors Awards were named. The top exhibitors in a range of categories are recognized annually, but while innovation and world-class design are always hallmarks of the Fair, the style and ingenuity rampant in the Seating category this year must have made for stiff competition.

Danish powerhouse Fritz Hansen ultimately took the top honor. The miniscule™ Chair joins practicality and stylishness in a compact, lightweight, and cozy creation. As the designer Cecilie Manz attests, “The chair has no secrets. You have the shell and you have the leg frame, and that’s about it. It is what you see.”

miniscule™ Chair by Cecilie Manz for Fritz Hansen

My personal favorites were among the Autoban installation for De La Espada. Though Autoban produces all kinds of home furnishings, the Throne Daybed and Sleepy Rocking Chair especially impressed me as being exquisite modern takes on traditional pieces.

Throne Daybed and Sleepy Rocking Chair by Autoban for De La Espada

Misewell made a splash at ICFF 2009, when it debuted a line of modern furniture unique for its combination of materials. The industrial-chic Lockwood chair is a simple and honest construction of powder-coated metal and solid wood, and boasts a rare combination of merits—it’s strong and sturdy yet easily portable.

Lockwood from Misewell

The Italian company SKITSCH introduced the American market to a unique “hybrid chair”. Somewhere between the bean bag and the armchair is the luxuriously comfortable Frolla.

Frolla from SKITSCH

This year’s winner in the Outdoor category was Eric Pfeiffer’s Plank Collection for San Francisco-based Council Design. The furniture line’s highlight is the lounge chair, a contemporary riff on the classic Adirondack. Arguably, Pfeiffer’s version offers better  support than New England’s beloved mainstay.

Plank Lounge Chair by Eric Pfeiffer for Council Design

Honorable mentions: John Ford’s WB chair, featured in yesterday’s ICFF roundup Walking Through “Wood-Land”. Also, it was good to see graypants again; we praised the group’s recycled-cardboard lighting fixtures last year in Shedding New Light on Recycling. Thanks to ICFF and all the exhibitors for a great time!