Campana brothers are Designers of the Year

Maison & Objet is one of the year’s most influential interior design shows and helps set the trends for the coming season. Every year, Maison & Objet recognises three designers for their contribution to the world of design. This year the designers of the year were brothers Humberto and Fernando Campana, originally from the Brazilian city of Brotas, French designer Hubert le Gall and Tokujin Yoshioka from Japan. A selection of work from each of these were on display throughout the duration of Maison & Objet (January 20-24, Villepinte exhibition center in Paris, France).

The Campana brothers first came into the design world with an exhibition of iron chairs in San Paulo in 1989 and have since been awarded the Special Prize at the Brazilian House Museum in 2011 and were named Designer of the Year 2008 at Design Miami; more information about their work can be found at www.campanas.com.br.

Hubert le Gall originally trained as a visual artist and is known for working with a diverse range of materials, including bronze and glass, to produce what has been described as “sculptural furniture.” This year he has been appointed lead designer at Maison & Objet’s ‘scenes d’interieur’ section of the exhibition; more information about his work can be found at www.hubertlegall.fr.

Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka has examples of his work permanently displayed at prestigious museums around the world including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. His work has been described as “transcending the boundaries of product design, architecture and exhibition installation” and he has been honored with numerous accolades including 2007 ‘Designer of the Year’ at Design Miami, Elle Deco International Design Awards – Designer of the Year in 2009 and Artist of the Year at the Tokyo Design Art and Environmental Awards 2010.

January’s Maison & Objet show celebrated the tenth anniversary of its Trends Observatory , an initiative introduced to provide industry professionals with detailed specialist insight of the major trends emerging from the broad range of exhibitors at the event.

Incorporating three of the most influential trends agencies, as well as industry professionals, this Observatory publishes the Cahier d’Inspirations reference guide to home fashion trends and presents spaces that showcase the trends. This year, the theme for the show and observatory was ‘Crazy’. The observatory showcased three spaces: Vincent Grégoire’s Sweet Freaks, François Bernard’s Art’keting, and Elizabeth Leriche’s Dream Box.