200 exhibitors from more than 20 countries in 270 thousand square metres of display space, with more than 150 thousand visitors: these are the figures of LivingKitchen, one of the world’s most important kitchen shows.
The event
From January 14 through 20, SapienStone participated in the important trade show in Cologne’s Koelnmesse trade show centre, at the same time as IMM Cologne. An international landmark for kitchens and home decorating, LivingKitchen 2019 provided an opportunity to view the latest proposals and all the new developments in the vast world of the kitchen.
The organisers have set themselves the ambitious goal of making LivingKitchen the world’s most international kitchen show.
More than just an exhibition of kitchens, appliances and accessories – though presented in the context of a show covering all aspects of interior design - LivingKitchen aims to make an emotional impact, offering information, events and great cooking shows.
Plenty of new developments were on exhibit at this year’s edition, including FoodMarket, located in the middle of the show, between the three pavilions offering an all-round vision of kitchen lifestyles, Future Technology, Future Design and Future FoodStyles. The trade show promoted discussion and offered opportunities to make purchases.
Inspiration and innovation are the keywords for the latest new products and trends in colours and materials in 2019.
This is the context in which SapienStone, sharing a stand with the Fiandre, FMG and Iris Ceramica brands, presented its Calacatta Light and White Calacatta surfaces, new additions to the recent Rovere collection, for a year focusing on creative design and the utmost versatility in the contemporary kitchen in 2019.
Lo stand
The ability to generate coordinated spaces and offer architects, designers and interior designers total look solutions was the common denominator underlining the Iris Ceramica Group brands’ participation in LivingKitchen 2019. The stand was a symphony of design in which each company in the Group stood out for its own particular qualities.
The stand designed by duePIU architects featured an evocative minimalist composition in which geometric lines cut across the space to lead visitors through the exhibition route.
The focus was on the kitchen, presented in three settings featuring different moods and materials, but all in line with the Group’s philosophy of considering the creative component of the kitchen as a place of experimentation, conviviality and social interaction.
The highlights of the show included a number of cooking shows demonstrating the technical performance and benefits of SapienStone porcelain countertops, with a small collection of custom-designed objects and accessories produced by duePIU architects to demonstrate the great versatility of the fine porcelain produced by the Iris Ceramica Group brands.
LivingKitchen revealed all the expressive potential of the Iris Ceramica Group’s high-tech ceramics and the four brands’ ability to work together to respond to their clients’ needs with customised, coordinated solutions for both public and private spaces.
The kitchens
The first setting visitors encountered upon entering the stand, by the reception area, was an island with a washbasin integrated into the worktop, a combination of SapienStone’s Rovere Buckskin and FMG Fabbrica Marmi e Graniti’s Grey Citystone surfaces.
The result was a perfect combination of the warm atmosphere of wood with the textured, porous, modern look of the grey texture.
In the middle of the stand was the second setting: a kitchen island covered with Arabescato from FMG’s Maxfine Marmi line, with a SapienStone countertop also made of Arabescato featuring the innovative TPB Tech® integrated induction cooker in Basalt Black.
The island volume seemed to cast its shadow on the pavement thanks to the geometry of the surface, which fit into the continuity of the surface covering the floor.
It contrasts with a linear wall-mounted kitchen in the same colours as the island, with base units and columns made of Basalt Black and a SapienStone Arabescato countertop and shelves: a perfect example of continuity in the kitchen.
Adjacent to this space is the third kitchen, featuring a snack bar covered with two new SapienStone surfaces: Rovere Baio, presented at the last Cersaie trade fair, and White Calacatta, a new product added to the collection at LivingKitchen 2019.
The kitchen was completed with a washing block covered with SapienStone’s new Calacatta Light colour, also presented for the first time in Cologne, and a White Calacatta cooking area.
New products from SapienStone
CALACATTA LIGHT
The light elegance of Italian marble
In colder hues than classic Calacatta, Calacatta Light is inspired by precious Italian marble. The background is bright white, with subtle greyish taupe veins adding a touch of perfect elegance.
Available with a glossy finish, Calacatta Light is the perfect colour for adding life to refined kitchens with a bright worktop using refined details to add a prestigious touch to the space. A classy surface for kitchens in all styles, from traditional to modern, responding to the stylistic demands of the designer or the client’s preferences.
WHITE CALACATTA
Luxurious atmospheres in the kitchen
White Calacatta is among the most prestigious of SapienStone’s surfaces inspired by marbles. The white background of the slab is warmed up with cream-coloured, almost golden veins, adding an aura of luxury and prestige.
Each slab is slightly different in hue, creating kitchen countertops of unique design.
Full-body colouring gives the surfaces a realistic look throughout their entire thickness, enhanced by through veins, a characteristic element of SapienStone countertops.
White Calacatta and Calacatta Statuario are SapienStone’s two book-matched surfaces: where two slabs are joined, a mirror design creates refined symmetry in the kitchen.
