Features

Now in its 27th year, the iconic Best of NeoCon Awards continue to honor the best new commercial interiors products in the industry. These products are introduced to the market in 42 categories ranging from Architectural Products to Workplace Technologies (visit the Contract Network for a full list of categories).  Over 40 jurors comprised of interior designers, architects, and facilities management professionals, review close to 350 products in 22 hours over three days before NeoCon begins. Award recipient’s booths and showrooms will be flagged with Best of NeoCon Award signs during the Show. In late May 2016, all products that entered the Best of NeoCon will be available for viewing on the Contract Network.

The IIDA/Contract Magazine Showroom and Booth Design Competition seeks to honor originality of design, visual impact, effective use of materials and the outstanding use of space, color, texture, lighting, and graphics in showrooms and booths at NeoCon 2016.

Announcing the third annual Interior Design HiP at NeoCon Awards, a recognition program Honoring Industry People and Innovative Design Solutions. This initiative, unique within the design world, honors commercial industry pioneers and achievement in design solutions and product applications.

Show that you're HiP and submit your design leaders and new products. ENTER NOW!

Deadline to enter is May 6. Voting will take place online, at idhipawards.com, from May 16 - 31. Winners announced Sunday, June 12 at an exclusive event.

HiP HiP Hooray Celebration is Tuesday, June 14 on the South Drive at NeoCon.

Be Honored by Interior Design. Be Lauded by Design Leaders. Be HiP at NeoCon. #idhipawards

Celebrating items that maximize productivity and sustainability. This award program covers flooring, seating,
lighting, walls and partitions, acoustics, furniture, and restrooms. Deadline May 13. Official rules and entry form.

The DIFFA/Chicago 2016 Illumination Gala will feature an evening of enlightenment dedicated to the cause of eradicating HIV/AIDS in our lifetime.  We invite all to join us as we shine a light on the fight – and illuminate what is possible.

The IIDA annual NeoCon black-tie gala celebration is a special evening to honor the winners of two of the most prestigious competitions in the Interior Design profession - the 43nd Annual Interior Design Competition and the 24th Annual Will Ching Design Competition.

Join IIDA and prominent international interior designers and global design manufacturers for an evening of cocktails, dinner, and dancing in the Grand Ballroom of The Ritz Carlton Chicago to celebrate the award winning design firms and their outstanding projects. Click here for more information.

The Best of NeoCon 2016 winners will be announced among industry peers on the opening morning of NeoCon at Contract magazine’s annual Best of NeoCon Breakfast.  The competition honors the best new commercial interiors products in the industry, which are exhibited in The Mart during the NeoCon show.  Honors include Gold and Silver Awards, as well as Innovation Awards, Editors' Choice Awards, and one Best of Competition Award. Tickets can be purchased at www.contract-network.com, until a week before the event.

The momentum at NeoCon will be in full swing on Monday night.  Showroom hop on floors 1, 3, 10 and 11.  See new products, network and wine and dine with all of your colleagues and friends from the industry in select showrooms.

The party’s not over.  Don’t miss cocktails, conversations and contacts to be made when the NeoCon energy and festivities continue on the 7th floor.  Mix and mingle with A&D professionals while exploring hundreds of exhibitors from around the world.

Join Interior Design and NeoCon for festivities on The Mart's South Drive, celebrating the 2016 HiP winners and honorees featuring a fiesta of Chicago food, drink and live music. 

Online tickets available until 1PM on June 14: $35
Tickets available at door: $40

Get your tickets here.

Members of the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA) and invited guests are encouraged to attend the Association’s Annual Membership Meeting to hear the state-of-the-industry and state-of-the-association reports. For more information, contact BIFMA at (616) 285-3963 or visit www.bifma.org.

This Association Event, Vinyl in Design: Solutions in Healthcare, is an outreach and education program presented by The Vinyl Institute to familiarize architects and designers with the wide range of design solutions vinyl products can provide in today’s healthcare environments. Attendees will earn .1 CEU credit through IDCEC upon completion.

Applications for vinyl in healthcare include exterior building elements, such as cladding, windows, roofing, piping and wiring.  Interior and aesthetic uses include flooring, window shades, wall protection, upholstery fabrics and wallcoverings. Other vinyl products with an outstanding history of performance in healthcare include intravenous fluid bags and tubing as well as many types of clinical and medical equipment.

This course will cover the salient features of products and vinyl’s role in sustainable design. It will be an introduction to the chemistry behind vinyl and the importance of making performance-based choices in today’s challenging service environment. With building renovation cycles in the industry typically ranging from 7 to 15 years, healthcare provider firms need to minimize cost while maximizing return on investment. Durability, cleanability and the need to stop hospital-acquired (nosocomial) infections will also be discussed as important aspects of project success and improved healing outcomes. 

After attending this presentation, participants will be able to: 

1. Describe to their clients why vinyl is commonly used in healthcare settings for building construction.

2. Identify vinyl's role in sustainable design using accepted environmental, economic and social criteria, and vinyl's role in compliance with rating systems and standards.

3. Understand the vinyl industry’s historical progress in meeting EPA and OSHA requirements.

4. Evaluate material attributes through the perspective of comprehensive life cycle assessment.

5. Articulate the attributes of vinyl products through durability, cleanability, infection control and return on investment criteria.

6. Discuss the importance of objective material science, the difference between hazards and risks, and the problems with red lists.

SPEAKER:
Terry Murphy, LEED AP BD+C
Vinyl In Design®

Terry has worked in the interior design field for over 30 years and is a LEED® accredited professional. Her experience has ranged from interior design and project management, teaching, public speaking and writing.

In an effort to help architects and designers learn more about building materials, Terry has been presenting continuing education classes for the last eighteen years. She taught several different classes for DuPont on nylon technology, carpet specification, color trends, and reclamation. Terry is now the Continuing Education Program Manager for The Vinyl Institute, Inc. She teaches an AIA and IDCEC registered classes on vinyl as a building material. This program addresses chemistry, innovation and questions about the safe use of vinyl in buildings today.

For more information, contact the Chemical Fabrics and Film Association at 216-241-7333 or cffa@chemicalfabricsandfilm.com

Stop by the showrooms or booths of NeoCon Exhibitors as they host a special event, important guest(s), hospitality, giveaways etc. Listings will be updated weekly.

Many of the boutiques at LuxeHome, the world’s largest collection of premier boutiques for home building and renovation located on the first floor of The Mart, will host special events during NeoCon. These include cocktail receptions, book signings, chef tastings, product introductions, open houses and much more. For more information on all the events happening at LuxeHome during NeoCon visit luxehome.com.

Stop by BuzziLounge to recharge with a playful pick-me-up at NeoCon.

Relax with Martin Lesjak while rocking your way to an active lifestyle atop BuzziBalance, designed in collaboration with 13&9.

Climb BuzziJungle to escape the crowds and gain a bird’s-eye view of the fair in this elevated work-lounge concept by emerging designer, Jonas Van Put. Cozy up in a quiet nook to catch up on emails or get social in a shared meeting space.

At BuzziSpace, we blur the boundary between work and fun.

A satellite version of the ultra popular emerging design event produced by Morlen Sinoway which ran in Chicago’s Fulton Market for 10 years will be featured on the South Drive of The Mart all day on Tuesday, June 14.  Morlen Sinoway will curate a selection of 10 up- and-comers showcasing prototype work and objects of design in the back of box trucks. 

Independent designers and organizational participants include:

 University of Illinois at Chicago

 The School of the Art Institute of Chicago

 Illinois Institute of Technology

 Columbia College

 AKMD

 Tanner Bowman, Katie Chung, Jennifer Kaplan

 Goodland Studio

 Parsons & Charlesworth

 Steven Haulenbeek

 Stephen Gulau

American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), Chicago

The Guerrilla Truck Show will be a highlight of the Tuesday night HiP Celebration event on the South Drive from 5-7pm.

Supported by: Gensler and Skender

Event design provided by AIGA in collaboration with Leo Burnett Department of Design, Multiple, ogilvy485, Someoddpilot, and Trunk Club

Whether you’re just arriving, on your way out the door, or simply need a break from the action, Herman Miller invites you to pause, connect, and revive in a vibrant setting outfitted with our dynamic range of furnishings—from iconic classics reimagined in fresh materials, to brand new designs that redefine comfort in the workplace.

Metropolis debuts five new talents in a curated installation at NeoCon 2016.  Each new talent will display 3 to 5 objects of design, following Metropolis’s at-all-scales approach.  Find this group of innovators to watch on The Mart’s first floor, as well as in the Metropolis June issue.

Enjoy a moment of Italian inspired peace and quiet on the 7th Floor as you travel between main aisles 5000 and 6000 via the SNOWSOUND 7th Floor Pass-Thrus. Walls lined with Snowsound Cubbies in two locations provide private acoustic call zones for attendees. You can also visit Snowsound’s main booth on the 7th Floor @ 7-4022 for an espresso and introduction to five new design solutions.

Be sure to schedule a stop at booth 7-1000 during the three days of NeoCon, for an experiential and engaging material exhibit that will surely be a highlight of NeoCon 2016. Discover hundreds of material samples displayed side-by-side, with details on their origin, makeup and recommended applications. Engage in real discussions about the materials themselves and learn the latest trends in material innovation in a comfortable, non-sales-like
environment.

That’s nearly 2,000 square feet of innovation and inspiration, curated by the I+S editorial team and design historian and materials specialist Grace Jeffers, and populated with the help of Material Intelligence (www.materialintelligence.com.), an information resource on surfacing solutions for designers and fabricators. We invite you to visit, browse, ask questions and get inspired!

The annual Metropolis Design Guide: Chicago features the best of architecture, culture, and design in the windy city.  This essential guide shares new and noteworthy design destinations and is used throughout the year to experience, source, see and shop the best in Chicago.  Take a neighborhood-by-neighborhood look at all the can’t-miss-favorites from local architects and designers and check out NeoCon events in addition to having a complete list of local showrooms, retailers, museums, galleries and restaurants in your pocket.

The Official NeoCon Product Preview provides you with extensive coverage on the latest product introductions, interview with the NeoCon 2016 keynote speakers, Chicago designer’s favorite places in the city and more.

The Design Center at The Mart is the world’s largest resource for custom home furnishings and interior design. Over 100 showrooms offer the finest lines and brands available to interior design professionals. The Design Center hosts luxury furniture, fabrics, floor and wall coverings, lighting, outdoor and casual furnishings, accessories, antiques, art and much more. The Design Center hosts many contract furnishings lines so make sure to check out over 2,500 lines and resources available on four convenient floors while attending NeoCon® 2016! Learn more at www.designcenter.com.

LuxeHome is the world’s largest collection of premier boutiques for home building and renovation. LuxeHome is located on over 120,000 square feet of space on the first floor of The Mart in Chicago. The over 30 Boutiques at LuxeHome offer the finest products and brands for kitchen, bath, flooring, appliances, tile, stone, hardware, lighting, paint, custom window treatments and more.

During Neocon visit LuxeHome to experience the newest boutiques, special events, the latest product launches, cutting edge trends and much more. LuxeHome is open six days a week. Learn more about LuxeHome.