This October, NeoCon organizers announced plans for new partnerships set to debut at NeoCon 2020, the 52nd edition of the most important annual event for commercial interiors in North America. Last week, we touched base with NeoCon organizers at theMART, and the leaders of the new partner entities.
“We’re always looking at how we can evolve the NeoCon experience,” said Lisa Simonian, Vice President of Marketing at NeoCon, in an officeinsight interview. “At our 50th edition, we really began looking at what the next 50 years looks like, how people want to experience events, and how the many design fields are converging. The new partnerships will help position the show as an international design festival, and help the community around theMART continue to grow.”
“In addition to NeoCon’s core role as a major launch pad for game-changing new products and design innovations, NeoCon 2020’s new partnerships, programs, and experiences that address broader currents of design and reach expanded audiences,” the initial press announcement reads. “These efforts are built on NeoCon’s commitment to inspire and engage the commercial, hospitality, and residential design communities, as well as C-suite executives and other design decision makers, design professionals and creatives from other industries, and the design-savvy public.”
“It is important in the evolution and ongoing vitality of NeoCon – and for its stakeholders and audiences – that we actively explore and create new opportunities that further extend the conversations surrounding and celebrating design,” said Byron Morton, VP of Leasing, NeoCon/theMART, in the announcement. “We will continue to move the NeoCon experience forward in inspiring and far-reaching ways.”
The thinking behind these new partnerships echoes a lot of what we’ve been hearing from industry leaders – that in order to continue evolving NeoCon’s strong appeal as a design show, the event could benefit from more integration with the City of Chicago and the larger design community.
With that in mind, NeoCon has pursued two major new partnership entities set to launch during the week of NeoCon 2020.
First, Confluence Chicago, is “a multidisciplinary design ideas platform created in tandem with BIFMA, the not‐for-profit trade association for business and institutional furniture manufacturers.”
“Confluence Chicago is BIFMA and NeoCon’s collaborative effort to elevate and amplify the conversation about design and design thinking in its many forms. Programming for 2020 will focus on ‘the intersection of design and our world’ and include a large-scale, high profile, design forum at the Harris Theater, several salon-type design experiences throughout Chicago, and a Confluence seminar track hosted at theMART. Programming details and registration will be available in January.”
We spoke to Tom Reardon, Executive Director of BIFMA, about the genesis of Confluence Chicago. BIFMA has served on the NeoCon Advisory Board for many years, and in that role, had begun to gather research on trade event experiences, and what people were hoping to get from those events.
“People talked about NeoCon, but they also referenced events like Salone in Milan, South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, and TED Talks and conferences,” said Mr. Reardon. “The recollections they spoke about from these other events were all about incredible inspirations and new discoveries they found. We began to think about how we could build those kinds of experiences into NeoCon, to make it more memorable and more valuable, and also to expand the pie to appeal to new audiences.”
Confluence Chicago is intended to draw upon the core NeoCon audience, but should also attract and embrace new markets that now share blurred lines with contract – including hospitality and residential design. Beyond that, Confluence organizers hope to draw the attention of design-savvy / design-loving executives and participants from any industry.
“Confluence is about ideas and facilitating a dialogue among many parts of our design community,” added Mr. Reardon. “And it will most likely grow and change over time.”
The second newly formed partnership is Designing a Better Chicago, a collaboration with Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Specials Events (DCASE) and the Design Museum of Chicago, “created to highlight, leverage, and support Chicago’s vast design legacy, talent, and resources.”
“We’ve had a very positive ongoing relationship with theMART through Art on the Mart, and we have a shared interest in celebrating design in Chicago,” said Lydia Ross, Director of Public Art at the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), in an officeinsight interview. “They were interested in becoming more intentionally integrated into the life of the city. There’s an opportunity here to tell a bigger story, outside of that building – certainly downtown on the Riverwalk, but also to engage and give back to the Chicago neighborhoods outside of that bubble.”
“We started a conversation between city people, theMART and NeoCon, the Design Museum, and also local curators, funders, and scholars, to figure out what the site had to offer,” Ms. Ross continued. “We wanted to preserve the intention and natural environment of the Riverwalk, but we wanted to also invite people to shift how they engage with the built environment – both visitors and locals alike. We wanted to provoke a different way of engaging with the space.”
“Designing a Better Chicago, a collaborative initiative organized and supported by NeoCon and theMART, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), and the Design Museum of Chicago, is pleased to announce the selection of the design team for its large-scale Chicago Riverwalk Installation,” detailed a new press announcement released last week. “Chicago-based design firms Kwong Von Glinow and UB Studio will unveil their project in June 2020. Aimed at highlighting, leveraging, and supporting Chicago’s vast design legacy, talent and resources, Designing a Better Chicago will also include the Design Impact Grant Program, which will recognize individuals or organizations using design for civic good. The annual initiative will be complemented by a series of special talks and events coinciding with NeoCon next June.”
“Give me a minute, please!, the inaugural Designing a Better Chicago Riverwalk installation by Kwong Von Glinow and UB Studio, will visually anchor the 2020 edition. The award-winning Chicago architects and designers will bring their unique creative vision to the project site, a space which will feature a new installation each year and is set to become a hallmark of the program.”
“Situated on the Riverwalk between Franklin and Lake Streets, the 6,000 square-foot-area is located at the confluence of the North, South and main branches of the Chicago River. ‘The question we asked ourselves when approaching the request for proposal was, ‘What more can we give to this site as architects?’ said Alison Von Glinow, Founding Partner at Kwong Von Glinow,” in the press announcement. “We proposed a design that incorporates the idea of time and space in everyday life. As its name Give me a minute, please! suggests, our installation offers a space for contemplation: a respite – even if knowingly momentary – where visitors will pause, delight, and enjoy their surroundings.” The proposal gives a second life to the existing structure of Robert Burnier’s artwork by building on top of it a lightweight pyramidal structure. Marking the western-most entrance to the Riverwalk, the hovering pure form of the pyramid will draw visitors underneath its canopy. Offering a covered area that houses several furniture-scale follies, Give me a minute, please! will activate both formal and informal programming opportunities along the Riverwalk.”
“Since its inception in 2001, the Riverwalk has quickly become one of the city’s most popular destinations for art, music, dining and the enjoyment of natural habitats. Beloved by Chicagoans and visitors alike, it continues to offer new ways in which to enjoy the city’s waterfronts and architecture. The Designing a Better Chicago Riverwalk design commission provides an opportunity to celebrate this beloved amenity while also telling a compelling story about the intersections of art, architecture, and design. Give me a minute please! will debut this June during NeoCon and be in place through October 2020.”
“The newly established Design Impact Grant Program, another key component of Designing a Better Chicago, will offer annual project-specific grants to individuals and organizations using design or design principles to directly address pressing issues in Chicago communities. Grant amounts will include up to $25,000 in funds, with two to four grants set aside to be given out per year based on the quality of applications and available funds.”
“Chicago has long been the center of great design – from the incomparable World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 to NeoCon’s enduring influence each year since 1969, and with so many accomplishments in between. Through this grant, we are thrilled to help bring Designing a Better Chicago to life. As a platform, we hope to expose and bolster the type of design that continues to make Chicago a better place,” comments Tanner Woodford, Founder and Executive Director of the Design Museum of Chicago. Nominations for the 2020 program are being accepted now through December 31, 2019 at designchicago.org/dbc. Candidates will then be selected to submit applications January 7 through February 17, 2020, with awards announced in April 2020.”
“We looked at how we could extend the partnerships downtown to include celebrating and elevating the work of amazing designers around the city, and the result of those efforts is the new Design Impact Grant Program,” said Ms. Ross.
In addition to the new partnerships above, theMART has confirmed a few other NeoCon 2020 inclusions:
“The NeoCon Plaza, the popular outdoor amenity space spanning theMART’s South Drive, will return in 2020 with Gensler Chicago back on board as the design partner. NeoCon 2020 will also debut a danish design MAKERS exhibition featuring the work of 20 designers with strong ties to the Danish design culture.”
NeoCon 2020 will take place June 8-10, 2020, at theMART in Chicago. Online registration for NeoCon 2020 is set to open in January at www.neocon.com. We’re eager to keep our readers up to date as more information regarding the new partnerships becomes available…stay tuned!