Henge and The City

“I’d entered the city the way one enters any grand love affair - with no exit plan. I went willing to live there forever, to become one of the women clad in slim pants and killer shoes and interesting coats. I was ready for the city to sweep me into its arms, but instead it held me at a cool distance. And so I left New York the way one leaves a love affair too, because, as much as I loved it, I wasn’t truly in love. I had no compelling reason to stay.”- Cheryl Strayed, Minnesota Nice.

New York City has been one of the most beloved and hated subjects for many artists, writers, and poets from around the world, all of whom have navigated their way through its streets, stayed there to be a part of its flow, or just watched it from a distance, intimidated by the rhythm. The Big City often remains a mystery even for those who spend a lifetime there. Within its large mix of cultures and people coming from literally everywhere in order to chase after life dreams, the artistic soul of New York City could undoubtedly be one of the most dynamic places to learn, grow, and express oneself. Due to the intimate bond with art, the events taking place in the Big Apple are a manifestation of power and exclusivity, where one can find the crème de la crème together with the most promising faces of future design.

Talking about the tradition of New York events, Calvino says, “New York has swallowed me up like a carnivorous plant swallowing a fly, I have been living a breathless life for 50 days now, a life made up of a series of appointments made a week or a fortnight in advance: lunch, cocktail party, dinner, evening party, these make up the various stages of the day, which you allow to meet new people, to make arrangements for other lunches, other dinners, other parties, and so on ad infinitum.” It is a particularly evident continuum, especially when the artistic heart of the Big Apple is unleashed to the rhythm of brands and big names in architecture. It is these trendsetters that create and modify spaces while revolutionizing their shapes and ability to amaze. It is during New York City Design Week that the city becomes the focal point of change, deciding what the new trends are and what is destined to disappear from the international design showcase. Green Street, the design street in Soho, becomes a stage, ready to host the general audience of aficionados coming from all around the world to a micro-district dotted with lights, exclusive events, and specially setup showrooms. In this dynamic and competitive scene that reflects both the spirit of New York City and its inhabitants’ American dream, Italian design occupies a place of peak interest. As the new 2018 edition approaches, with its exciting innovations and spectacular events, we wanted recap what happened last year at ICFF. The International Contemporary Furniture Fair highlighted the incredible international attention being paid to exclusive Italian craftsmanship, which is alive and full of prospects. Events with the big “Bel Paese” names in design were the most crowd ed and most talked about by the pre-, during-, and post-ICFF media. Among these was the success of Henge in the DDC showroom.

As the new 2018 edition approaches, we wanted to recap what happened last year at ICFF, where the flagship events and most beloved products come from the “Bel Paese”

NYC has undoubtedly confirmed and greatly exceeded the brand’s expectations. In an exclusive space designed for and with Henge, DDC hosted a special project to accommodate a blend of the most iconic pieces of the brand’s history, including the latest incredible collection by Massimo Castagna and the exclusive collaboration with the Yabu Pushelberg Studio, Mushroom table, which will soon be honored with the top prize in the Interior Residential Furniture category. With this award, the Architect’s Newspaper celebrated the collection’s minimal design and functionality, inspired by the special collaboration between the Italian brand and the renowned architect duo. The Henge project branches off into 200 square meters of space, surrounded by windows and Bistrot bookcases that filter the first image of this custom design excellence. Four large main areas give a taste of Henge products’ magnificence and range: living, dining, bar, and family living. They are coordinated in a single stylistic mood where each piece can express its identity and, at the same time, find a harmonious place with everything. The DDC, NYC space is an interior design project that embraces the structure in which it was created and makes it its own - in a showroom that represents a fundamental point for international design. It is a space where Henge explores and demonstrates its most powerful custom capabilities. DDC, NYC held a special party in its showroom to inaugurate the new space and reveal it to an audience made up of friends, customers, design aficionados, and VIPs who came to discover a custom power that reflected their unique lifestyle. The event represented a unique opportunity to enter a world made of craftsmanship and custom capacity that surpasses design limits. It achieves a surprisingly creative power and a technique of transforming materials, the result of uninhibited research and the most skilled craftsmen’s hands. ICFF represents a moment and a fundamental place for international design where one can look for contact with New York City’s frenetic culture and discover the trendsetting ability of showrooms such as DDC and the expressive power of Henge, which, in a few years, has climbed to the top of the challenging world of design. As May 2018 nears, be ready to visit the new Henge space at the DDC showroom during the next edition of ICFF.