Vamos valencia

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Julia by Dd

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Kanaba

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Marilyn Monroe House

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Tey’s 5th Avenue

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Kanaba

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Jaime Hayon

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The Spanish city of Valencia has been hitting the high spots of late. Perhaps most famous for its successful staging of the 32nd America's Cup earlier this year, Spain's third city has undergone something of an architectural makeover thanks in part to the inspiration of architect Santiago Calatrava and his City of Arts and Sciences, as well as the sailing event itself, which has seen the port area undergo a tremendous transformation. Valencia will also host a Formula 1 circuit come 2008, joining the likes of Monaco in being one of a few places to offer an urban course throughout the city's streets.

But an event that is increasing the status of the city throughout the design world is the annual Habitat Valencia Forward that took place at the end of September. Housed in the extended Feria Valencia, the international furniture fair featured a total of 700 key exhibitors from all over the world displaying their latest products in 80,000 m² of exhibition space. This year was notable for its change in direction with a more international feel given Spain's more aggressive policy of courting more foreign investment in its furniture. The exhibition was a dazzling affair with local exhibitors such as Andreu World and Barcelona Design along with foreign companies such as Italian company Fiam putting effort into making their stands as glitzy and expensive looking as possible. And the different subsections: Haute decoration; accessories and textures; classic; modern; upholstered furniture; leisure and cutting-edge meant the show was also user-friendly.

There was also a lighthearted addition to this year's event in the shape of ‘a house for...' project. This saw two houses created, one for Marilyn Monroe and the other for Leonardo da Vinci using furniture, decoration and lighting from exhibitors at the show.

What was evident at this year's event was the widespread use of polypropylene and polyetilene in many products following a heavy retro theme of 60's and 70's chic. Chairs and tables in a range of bright pastels and styled in geometric shapes such as rhombuses, squares and circles were notable. Stark white seemed to be the dominant colour throughout the major exhibitors' products. A good example of this was Joan Gaspar and Josep Lusca's new collection of chairs for Dd. The Fiona, Hey, Frida and Bob collections come in a range of colours such as lime greens, reds and oranges. An unusual take on the stool was the ergonomically designed Flod stool from Barcelona-based Mobles 114, while Novecento from Paco Capdell was an interesting example of how man-made materials can lead to furniture that crosses the indoor/outdoor divide.

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