Sight Unseen is ubiquitous when it comes down to selecting the best, hottest, and upcoming trends in Contemporary Design. At this year’s Sight Unseen Offsite, the acclaimed online-based design magazine curated 25 participating design studios showcasing individual presentations of their high-end work. If you’ve got an eye for design or just love beautiful objects and succulents, Sight Unseen Offsite is the design fair for you. The fair is open through Monday – we picked our top five favorite booths for you to feast your eyes on before heading over.
The 2nd edition of Norway x New York, a long-distance collaboration between 5 American and 5 Norwegian design studios. Selected and paired by Sight Unseen and sponsored by the Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York, clean shapes, and minimalism with pops of color were trends amongst the collaborators. The studios featured were Moving Mountains + Runa Klock, Vonnegut/Draft + Kneip, Jamie Wolfond + Sigve Knutson, Visibility + Noidoi, and Slash Objects + Thomas Jenkins.
The TWYLA VR experience in collaboration with art director Tom Hancocks, each VR room representing a 2017 interiors trend chosen by Sight Unseen. Hancocks created eight rooms, viewable in 360-degree panoramas via the VR headsets provided, designed around works of art offered by Twyla.
Fernando Mastrangelo Studio presented a haunting black and greyscale scene, the furniture and decorative objects constructed with the studio’s signature mix of unusual materials including salt, sugar, sand, coffee and corn.
A sight-specific interactive installation by Calico Wallpaper and The Principals was a can’t miss presentation, featuring a new collection of wallpaper inspired by aura as a projection of energy. The centerpiece of the presentation was a kinetic light fixture that activated with 5 different bird calls and shifting light hues in reaction to touch and energy.
Slash Objects presented a stunning minimal set of objects – gold-framed mirrors mounted in pastel concrete blocks and shining cylindrical shapes, complemented by squared philodendron leaves – a minimalist’s dream.
Sight Unseen Offsite is on view May 19-22 at 100 Avenue of the Americas and is accompanied by Sight Unseen Presents, a curated event series and magazine popping up in a dozen boutiques, showrooms and restaurants throughout the city from May 16-23. Top image courtesy of Sight Unseen x Tom Hancocks
