June 18, 2019
In Conversation: Interzum 2019
We sat down with John Saunders, Director of Castella to talk about his trip to the Interzum Design Show in Cologne, Germany – and what it means for the Castella brand in the future.
Q: What is special about Interzum, why did Castella attend in 2019?
A: Interzum provides an opportunity for hardware designers and manufacturers to exhibit the latest in interior design. Held every two years in Cologne, Germany, Interzum is a must-attend exhibition for those in the global furniture and hardware supply industry.
Castella chose to attend this year because we’re committed to bringing the best in global innovations and trends for hardware design to our customers. Interzum gave us the opportunity to meet with our manufacturers and see what is popular in European design.
Q: What was the highlight of Interzum?
A: Castella always aims to give interior and kitchen designers in Australia a ‘leading edge’ in their design options for cabinet handles. The highlight of Interzum was definitely visiting the stands of exhibitors and discussing with them design trends within our industry. It is incredibly insightful to have these conversations and helps us ensure the Castella Collections reflect current global trends.
Q: What design inspiration have you taken away from Interzum?
A: For the next 2 years the current trends in handle design will definitely be matt black, graphite, matt white and satin brass. It is pleasing to note these trends are already strongly featured in our product range and becoming entrenched in Australian design – confirmation that our Aussie designers are indeed world class.
It was pleasing and refreshing to see that using handles in design is back! The blandness of ‘handleless’ kitchens is fast disappearing and being replaced with minimalistic styles of handles in longer sizes. We feel that this provides customers with a much more functional and aesthetically pleasing result.
Another thing that was interesting to see is that capability in special finishes is rapidly evolving and there were some spectacular examples on display. It will be interesting to see where technology takes us in the next few years.
Q: Are there any exciting developments coming out of Interzum that you might like to share?
A: There were some beautiful traditional handle styles exhibited which we hope to bring to the Castella Collections before long. We’d like to share more, but not just yet! Watch this space!
Q: Did you get to see/experience anything in Cologne?
A: It was a very quick trip, but we did spend a short time in the city. Cologne was bombed heavily in WW2 and much of the city’s early architecture was destroyed. The twin spires of the Cathedral dominate the skyline, it is an incredibly impressive structure.
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