Curated by design consultancy Small Office, this year’s INTRO/LA features sculptural furniture from local designers such as Adi Goodrich, Sam Klemick and Jialun Xiong.
The exhibition is being shown in Small Office’s Los Angeles showroom, with pieces displayed among semi-transparent dividers.
It showcases both emerging and established Los Angeles designers.
“The show is to display how diverse the community is, and how everyone’s working in different styles and production methods and materials,” Small Office founder Paul Valentine told Dezeen.
“[It’s] really to show the expansive of creativity here, rather than zero in on one trend and say, ‘this is what’s happening’.”
Colourful, geometric pieces from Adi Goodrich’s Sing Thing collection are on display, including multi-tiered lamps, a checkered dining chair and playful, flat-pack side tables.
The collection is an homage to the silhouettes and character of the French L’Esprit Nouveau movement, as well as Lina, an influential woman in Goodrich’s life who taught her “how to live”.
Sam Klemick’s Sweater Chair and an accompanying, wiggle-legged stool sit nearby.
Recently on display as part of 2LG Studio’s You Can Sit With Us exhibition, the Sweater Chair consists of a carved-wood sweater draped over the backrest of a chair of the same material.
An aluminium side table inspired by “the exterior of a boxy home” by designer Jialun Xiong sits among a chair, bench and stool featuring stainless steel elements and minimalistic lines.
Xiong’s Dwell side table consists of a metallic cube with rectangular and circular slices taken from around its body, “representing different architectural elements to enrich the user’s experience”.
Caleb Engstrom’s Wet Wool chair is made of resin-drenched wool draped and set to dry over metal and wood pieces, which debuted earlier this year at Los Angeles Design Festival 2023,
The chair sits next to a stackable side table made of rubber, lacquer and resin table bases used in Engstrom’s other pieces. One such base layer contains “faux” lemons trapped in its transparent form.
Other work includes rustic wooden stools and lighting by Ravenhill Studio, spikey, wooden chairs and a large mirror by Objects for Objects and scalloped, ceramic planters and side tables from BZIPPY. Also on show was a collection by Leah Ring and Adam de Boer as well as studio Waka Waka, which has a production studio next door.
The INTRO series was started in 2013 as a platform to showcase both emerging and established designers in contrast to the traditional trade show format. Valentine aims to create “one interior feeling” by displaying pieces from various designers in close proximity to one another for a community-oriented exhibition.
Previous design exhibitions around Los Angeles include Future Perfect’s Dear Future show, which displayed work from Gaetano Pesce and a variety of shows at Los Angeles Design Festival 2023.
INTRO/LA is on show at Small Office in Los Angeles until 17 November. See Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.
The photography is by JJ Geiger.
Source: Rooms - dezeen.com
