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Explore the 2023 fair

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KIAF trade fair - the first interior architecture trade fair in Krakow

Come. See. Touch - this was the motto of the first KIAF Interior Design Fair, which took place on 20-21 September in EXPO Krakow. Months of preparations, thousands of phone calls made and emails sent and hundreds of meetings held turned into a success. We invited more than 100 companies representing various sectors of the interior design industry - from finishing materials and furnishings to intelligent houses and services for architects; we arranged 3 thematic zones and prepared a two-day training programme with esteemed lecturers, as well as workshops, lectures and a discussion panel. The icing on the fair cake was an exhibition prepared by the Interior Design Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow.

FR_20230920_0158.jpg [4.21 MB] What were the exhibitors' impressions? - This is the first fair of its kind in Krakow, so we were curious ourselves what it would look like, how it would be organised, what the visitors would be like. The number of visitors exceeded our expectations, there was a wide cross-section of visitors, including graduates of design schools or schools of architecture, potential clients and people from the industry," summarised Piotr Kamiński, Regional Sales Manager of Nowy Styl, the main partner of the KIAF Trade Fair.

Education, inspiration and knowledge exchange field

In preparing the fair, we placed great emphasis on the possibility of exchanging knowledge and conversation, which is why one of the main points of the programme was the panel discussion 'Przenikanie architektur(y)', chaired by Katarzyna Księżopolska, editor-in-chief of the MAGAZIF portal. The speakers: Maciej Franta (Franta Group), Agnieszka Bielaska (Asymetria Interior), Prof. dr. hab. Rafał Ziembiński (Faculty of Interior Design, Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow) and Anna Bartman (podcast "From the Inside") jointly sought answers to questions such as: What does the profession of an architect look like today? What are the ways of practising it? Why is empathy and the ability to step into someone else's shoes important when designing? Do you design from the outside to the inside, or vice versa? The discussions in the corridors, which continued long after the panel, showed that these are topics which are of interest to architects, especially those starting out in their careers. FR_20230921_0025_20231013104635.jpg [164.19 KB]

Showroom

FR_20230921_0068.jpg [4.34 MB] One of the most visited spots on the trade fair map was the Pattern Room created by the Iberapol brand. - We arranged the Pattern Room so that all exhibitors, in addition to their stands, could show their products here in combination with other finishing materials. We organised an arrangement competition for exhibitors and visitors using our stone elements and other home furnishings donated by exhibitors. This is a bit of inspiration and a bit of showing the possibilities of combining different materials in one. - Paweł Będkowski, Iberapol brand manager, said about his stand.

Visualisations vs. virtual world

The fair and the accompanying lectures and industry meetings have become a real forum for the exchange of knowledge. - The Virtual Reality Institute deals with augmented and virtual reality. We are trying to spread this technology to various industries, including architecture and interior design. We are here first and foremost to listen to designers, designers, get feedback from them, what expectations they have of virtual reality, how it can be used. We offer a demo, in which we show how virtual reality can work, but in fact we have come to listen to them and on the basis of the collected information we will transform and update the programme,' said Piotr Wałęsa, Project Manager at the Institute of Virtual Reality, about the future awaiting the architectural industry. FR_20230920_0304.jpg [3.12 MB]

A needed point on the trade fair map of Poland

In times when everything can be found on the internet, does it make sense to organise a stationary interior design trade fair? Our experience shows that it definitely does! - It is a very promising concept and much needed in this part of our country. You can see in Krakow the need for an event that will foster presentations and networking and at the same time be a place where architects can train. The product range at the KIAF Fair is presented in a clear, pleasant manner. I appreciate events that have a form of presentation that is quite clear, that is not distracting and that focuses on the product. Most of the stands we have here can be rolled up and reused, it is also important that there is no unknown amount of rubbish left after this fair. I think there is a very large arena here for architects, of whom there are many in southern Poland," sums up Katarzyna Księżopolska, editor-in-chief of the MAGAIF portal. It would be hard to find a better summary of our several months of work.
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