Design Crack

6 December 2006

Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial 2006 Designers: Neocon West 2006 by Panelite

by Brandon Thomas Baunach

Object: Neocon West 2006 Exhibit

Designer: Panelite

URL: http://www.e-panelite.com/

Category: Architecture

Price: $varies widely by project

Lust Factor: Warm

Description: This was Panelite showing of at Neocon West this year. Panelite makes the plastic panels that were used to create this glowing sofa. Neocon, is the most important American interior design expo. The event happens twice per year: once in Chicago and once in the western United States.

Panelite is what I like to call a YAPP (or Yet Another Plastic Panel). There are som many companies making this shit now! The real innovator in this space was Knoll’s Imago which are beautiful and the first. Then, the one that was marketed heavily was 3-form which makes a more interesting panel because it has natural materials like grass.

Now, panelite has raised the bar way high. The panels they make are an architect’s dream. The panels are fire resistant, which was a big issue previously. They also come in these fantastic honeycomb patterns that give the panels enough structure as to be used as free standing partitions. All earlier products had to be well braced because of their flimsiness.