Interview Dick Spierenburg

Foto: Dick Spierenburg, Koelnmesse

Pure Village clusters renowned design brands and creative furnishing ideas at the heart of the imm cologne. In our interview Dick Spierenburg, responsible for the design of Pure Village, explains what makes this innovative trade fair format so different.

Dick Spierenburg is one of those designers with a wideranging sphere of activity who knows how to respond to media and consumer interests alike. Right now he’s busy planning his own house, a project that allows him to implement his ideals without compromises – a merging of design, interior and architecture. The co-founder and project leader of the Cologne Design Post developed the architecture of the new Pure Village trade fair project for Koelnmesse. Spierenburg hopes his exhibition concept will underline the imm cologne’s development from furniture show to interior design fair.

The exhibition architecture is based on a flexible system of modules. How does this system work and what possibilities do exhibitors have when it comes to the design of the modules?
In principle, the spaces are totally open. The idea is that they’re only closed when the presentation requires it. The partitions and columns are available either with painted wooden panels or a semi-open structure made of woven strips. There’s a choice of several colours for all the materials, but only ever neutral shades. This leads to subtle variations, but the focus stays firmly on what’s happening inside the cubes.

To what extent does the Pure Village concept do justice to current developments in design – the merging of various areas of the home, for instance?
By cross-linking product ranges and focussing on interior concepts, Pure Village provides an ideal setting for showing hybrid interior designs. That’s why we’ve also tried to bring manufacturers together to implement new concepts – a bathroom manufacturer who collaborates with a furniture manufacturer to create a space for sleeping and bathing, for instance. The same thing is feasible for the dining room and kitchen or indoor and outdoor products. Rooms that are suitable for both relaxing and working are another interesting idea.

Author: Lars Mörs
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Dick Spierenburg in an interview about:

• alternative hall architecture
• totally new type of fair presentation
• open structures

Further information:

• Title: Pure Village: A market square for the fair
• Vita Dick Spierenburg