Closely aligned with the theme “Saigon Metropolitan,” young designers have brought forth remarkably impressive and commercially promising design concepts to Hoa Mai 2024.
The organizers of Hoa Mai 2024 hit the mark. Significant changes in the competition, from introducing a specific theme, expanding participation, and inviting more professional designers, have led to a plethora of impressive products in its 20th season.
“Treasured delicacies, abundant rarities”
Compared to the nearly 350 designs registered for participation, the number of authors officially entering the development stage, bringing their ideas to fruition, is relatively low, just over 10%. The organizing committee selected only the top 21 outstanding authors from the Open Award category and 10 designs from the Professional category. All these potential interior ideas have been meticulously supported, from providing materials, technical teams to advisory work, and suggestions from industry experts throughout the product refinement process.
While familiar furniture pieces such as cabinets, chairs, sofas, etc., dominate, the furniture of Hoa Mai 2024 breathes a distinctly modern air. One such example is the Beat chair, inspired by headphones, crafted by young students Tran Thi Yen Anh and Tran Ngoc Thanh Truc. Like listening to crisp sounds to soothe one’s soul after the daily hustle and bustle, sinking into this comfortable chair, upholstered in sheepskin, combined with natural wood and a swivel base, designed to cradle the user’s breathing, provides a sense of relaxation and safety. “The Beat chair can be a companion, present in every home, a place to relax, letting go of life’s pressures,” the designers revealed.
Another impressive design is the Nem shelf, a versatile shelf by author Huynh Tan Anh Tuan. The highlight of the Nem shelf is its customizable, detachable, and expandable nature according to users’ needs. Aiming to help users organize living spaces more flexibly and easily, the Nem shelf allows users to apply this furniture item to various needs, from decoration, storage, to creating partitions for another open space, creating harmony and balance in living spaces. “In modern urban environments, where personal and family living spaces are increasingly confined, yet living needs are on the rise, flexible, limitless solutions are what users truly need. Nem – symbolizing connecting little things to make life more interesting every day,” said Tuan. The young designer’s sharing clearly shows that the new creative team has spent considerable time observing, capturing the real essence of life.
Milan Beckons
Catering to the needs of urban residents, flexibility is highly valued by many young designers in their designs. An exemplary case is the Triangle – Square – Circle, a finely combined set of three basic geometric shapes that can transform into various furniture items. Each individual chair within the Triangle – Square – Circle set has 12 magnets, serving to fix and connect individual chairs into tables or shelves of various sizes and shapes, allowing users to comfortably disassemble and assemble, attach details to create desired products.
Similarly, the Versatile multi-functional product set serves as both interior finishing panels, sound absorbers, and wall-mounted decorative panels. Versatile is developed as a service product approach, allowing customers to easily upgrade, change their minds, experience trials, or rent products. This is a circular design approach aimed at achieving sustainability while still meeting the full value and experience of the product.
Awareness of sustainable furniture needs, in line with the young design team’s green development goals, is even more evident in C-Smart 1.0 – the multifunctional desk by designer Huu Khoa. The product is created based on the principles of circular design and modularization. Each part of the desk is compacted, easily expanded, suitable for use in urban spaces. At the same time, it allows for easy replacement of any faulty parts. This consumption method does not impose pressure on resources, the environment, or energy allocated for production.
“The works gathered at Hoa Mai 2024 demonstrate the maturity of Vietnam’s young design team. After 20 editions, the awards have truly made an unforgettable mark,” commented Mr. Nguyen Quoc Khanh, Chairman of HAWA. It’s because of this that furniture companies are eagerly collaborating with mature young design teams from Hoa Mai, bringing ideas to the market.
In April 2024, the designs honored at Hoa Mai 2024 may have an additional special opportunity, appearing at Milan Design Week. In the Vietnam booth, jointly organized by ITPC and HAWA, these new designs will be the official greeting from the Vietnamese furniture industry, affirming the goal of increasing creativity and sustainable development.
By Minh Huong
