Designers Gather at NeoCon in Chicago
This year’s NeoCon and Design Days featured innovative products that prioritized adaptability, resourcefulness, and sustainability. The most compelling launches demonstrated that flexibility, circularity, and longevity are core design metrics.
Modular and Reconfigurable Designs
Kettal’s Eames Pavilion System is a modular workplace framework built for flexibility and interior adaptability. Conceived in collaboration with the Eames Office, the system combines repeatable structures, interchangeable envelopes, and customizable components.
Stackabl’s Configure Your Own turns waste into a design asset by linking acoustic performance with lighting. They create modular products engineered for disassembly and recovery using materials like Merino wool and PET offcuts.
Sustainable Materials and Production
Hero Rubber, made with Nike Grind, transforms manufacturing scrap and end-of-life athletic footwear into high-performance resilient flooring. The collection offers 17 colorways and combines durability, comfort, and visual impact.
Wanderwood brings a distinctive wood-inspired terrazzo visual to 24″ x 24″ LVT tiles, which are fully recyclable and manufactured in the USA. The collection features ExoGuard+ technology for exceptional appearance retention and resistance to scratching and staining.
Adaptable and Flexible Products
SoftBrick, designed by Paolo Lucidi and Luca Pevere for Stylex, is a modular seating system that supports a wide range of layouts for workplace, hospitality, and public settings. It is upholstered in Stylex’s extensive textile offerings, including options with recycled content.
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Companies like Kettal and Stackabl are helping to create a more circular and resourceful industry by incorporating adaptability, sustainability, and flexibility into their designs.
The Kiaura Collection, designed by Aaron DeJule and exclusively manufactured by KI, is the first seating line to incorporate patented Cognetic Technology. This innovation uses gravity and continuous natural motion to support comfort and performance.
Designing for Change
Turf has expanded its Hues palette with 10 new colors informed by neuroaesthetics and sensory design, bringing the collection to 42 total hues. These colors are available across Turf’s acoustic solutions, which are made from 9mm PET felt containing 60 percent pre-consumer recycled content.
Stephen Burks Man Made presented several pieces at Haworth’s NeoCon space, including the molded plywood Birth lounge chair, which stands out for its silhouette and structural clarity. The Dinámica lighting system uses pivoting aluminum elements to create multiple lighting conditions.
It is clear that the design industry is evolving.
Designers are incorporating sustainable design principles into their work.
