Innovative uses for everyday materials shine

With furnishings that run the gamut from edgy to elegant, ethnic to otherworldly, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair is a favorite of serious design lovers.

Here are a few highlights from this year’s fair, which was held last week in New York:

Luminous lightingSeveral booths showed sculptural lighting resembling clouds, puffs of smoke or some evocation of a bird#146;s nest. Vancouver-based Molo created LED-lit, honeycombed, polyethylene pendants in various sizes that could be clustered and even dimmed to create a stormy atmosphere. Interesting fibers were spun into cotton candy #8212; like fixtures at Hive. At DCS Corp, washi paper formed a table lamp complete with a #147;downpour#148; made of thin brass rods. At Aqua Creations, pleated silk disks created lit mobiles resembling an extraterrestrial midnight garden or a flotilla of sea urchins. All were an inspirational take on an ethereal shape that worked perfectly for lighting.Cardboard#146;s cachetThe lowly cardboard box has become the darling of eco-mindful designers looking for an intriguing new material. At Graypants, corrugated paper formed bulbous, textural pendant lampshades. At Molo, stiff unbleached Kraft paper was fanned into sturdy stools and loungers. The honeycomb layers of cardboard amps up textural elements. Most were left their original caramel color, which gave the furnishings a nice #147;patina.#148; Graypants and other designers put Edison bulbs in their fixtures; Edisons are reproductions of early light bulbs; their carbon or tungsten filaments emit a pleasing, low-watt glow.Wood laminatesPlywood was everywhere at this year#146;s show. Designers like its versatility, so there were many interesting plywood chairs, tables and bookshelves. Brooklyn designer April Hannah#146;s collection of treehouse-inspired kids#146; furniture included an eco-friendly, maple- or walnut-veneer play table and chairs. Philadelphia University#146;s Industrial Design students used bamboo plywood to craft an array of furnishings. Laurie Beckerman#146;s Ionic Bench for Voos Furniture was a curvy swoop of Baltic birch plywood. Wisconsin-based Drift Studio printed subway maps and other graphic motifs on plywood panels that were bolted together into cubes #8212; modular storage was another trend seen throughout the show.Industrial chicThe chic edginess of industrial style continues to find favor with designers. In some hands, such as Chicago studio akmd, it had a midcentury vibe. They carved faux casters out of oak, oversized them, put them on the legs of a dining table and beautifully dovetailed compartmental storage pieces. At Barcelona-based Arxe, materials were work-worn and weather-beaten, yet fabricating them into tables and countertops gave them a sophisticated second life. Arxe also showed refurbished military, workshop and studio light fixtures, and wonderfully patinated vintage metal stools and chairs. Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek did clever wallpaper printed with planks of scrap wood.Geometry classWood, laminate, and metal triangles and polyhedrons were used to create seating and case goods, including a winning chair prototype designed by Rochester Institute of Technology student Dan Fritz as part of the School of Design#146;s Metaproject with Wilsonart. Tom Dixon wowed the crowd with his futuristic, hivelike Etch light fixtures formed out of brass screens.As always, the juxtapositions at ICFF made it so worthwhile: Kid-centric wall coverings printed with space-age toys or Japanese dolls were on one side of the aisle, while moody papers depicting fog-filled woods or time-ravaged gardens were on the other. Luminous mother-of-pearl bath fixtures shared acreage with pieces made out of tires or toilet plungers. Innovation is in the eye of the creative.SPF811791This winning chair prototype designed by student Dan Fritz, incorporates wood, laminate and metal.AP Photo SPFSPF35502473A pendant light made from corrugated paper. The lowly cardboard box has become the darling of eco-mindful designers looking for an intriguing new material.AP Photo/GraypantsSPFSourcebookŸmolostore.com: Cloud soft lights, $420-$1,700; fanned stools and loungersŸgallery.com: pleated silk pendants and mobile light fixturesŸgraypants.com: Scrap lights. $99 and upŸaprilhannah.com: Tree table collection, prices on requestŸphilau.edu: Philadelphia UniversityŸvoosfurniture.com: Laurie Beckerman’s Ionic Bench, $5,500Ÿscrapwoodwallpaper.com: Piet van Eek’s wallpaper, $199 per 43-square-foot rollŸakmdcollection.com: castered tables and storage pieces, prices on requestŸylighting.com: Tom Dixon’s Etch Shade pendant, $380 and upŸarxe.info: furnishings made of salvaged industrial materialsŸrit.edu: Rochester Institute of Technology