Euroshop 2014: Highlights in terms of design and elegance

Exhibition construction system vendors see every EuroShop as a challenge. They seek to demonstrate how systems are becoming more efficient and imaginative.

Located at the main entrance to Hall 9, it was impossible to miss the stand of Modul International. But it also provided highlights for admiring visitors. “What really caught the eye were our tables suspended from the ceiling and a wall consisting of backlit profile sections,” recalls managing director Markus Giehl. “The surfaces on the back wall and floor also attracted a lot of attention.” Visitors were constantly to be seen running their hands over the decorations, such as aluminium bubbles, leather with stitching or the wall of genuine moss. Another visitor magnet was the exhibition of new cabinets, counters, light boxes and pieces of furniture. Anyone who knew Modul only as an exhibition construction system vendor saw new sides to the Neuss-based company (www.modul-int.com).    

The structures at the stand of Sign-Ware appeared from a distance to be like huge walls. When you looked more closely, however, they turned out to be lightweight structures made using the Dado 5 and Skywall systems with digitally printed fabrics fixed to them. These made the walls look like conventional exhibition stand structures. The apparently individual shapes of the walls strengthened this impression. “This was made possible by a combination of new profiles and the special angles of our system,” explains Carsten Teriet, director of controlling at Sign-Ware, the manufacturer. “The most remarkable thing at our stand, however, was something that we could only explain to the visitors – the extremely short construction time.” Four men built and equipped the 50 square metre stand in just under three days (www.sign-ware.de).

The Swiss company Syma demonstrated the kind of design ideas that can be realised entirely with a modular system. On the left rose a tower with a mirrored wall, and on the right a tower that used media and mirrors to portray an illusion. The towers were cut across by a tube with a bar at ground level and a tube at a height of around three metres containing the upper floor with a meeting room and a stylish lounge. “The visitors were amazed when we explained that this upper floor was built using our new Syma-Cubic system,” recalls Syma marketing director Beat Müller. “The ingenious, patented connector system allowed the basic structure to be erected in a third of the time that would be required using conventional multi-floor systems” (www.syma.ch).  

Behind a closed blue façade, system manufacturer Hestex Systems invited visitors into a number of separate areas at its stand. Visitors interested in turnkey stands, for example, witnessed a media presentation of over 2,000 reasonably priced standard solutions. Another room focusing on custom-design stands presented solutions for exhibition structures of up to 5,000 square metres in size. In the event management area, the company presented the HS Quickbuildwall, which can be used to build exhibition complexes of up to 40,000 square metres. In the special solutions area, it was possible to see how different kinds of cabinets or tool cupboards can be built with Hestex. And in the aluminium systems area, visitors were able to familiarise themselves with the manufacturer’s entire portfolio. “We have been at EuroShop since 1984. But with 600 customers and prospects, this was our most successful appearance,” says Hestex managing director Arie Sint Nicolaas (www.hestexsystems.com).

Mezzo Light is considered to be one of the most elegant exhibition construction systems consisting of aluminium elements. “Despite its slim profiles, it allows very stable structures to be built,” emphasises Mezzo managing director Olaf Krobitzsch. The merits of the lightweight system and the stronger Mezzo Strong were demonstrated in a variety of installations at the Mezzo stand. There were walls and cubes with a variety of new LED-backlit fabric coverings to admire and facades with system-covering fillings or sales containers with retractable iPad holders. The round meeting cabin with a curved sliding door, which recalled a tower, was a visual highlight. Mezzo exhibited together with the Frankfurt exhibition construction company Spacewood, a partner with which the system manufacturer has worked internationally for years (www.mezzo-systems.com).

The size of Aluvision’s stand made it clear that the company has plenty going on. Founded in 2003 with eight employees, the Belgian company now employs 45. At 200 square metres, its stand was larger than ever before. The company’s current slogan “Shapes in Motion” was used at the stand and applied to Omni Vision, the company’s new modular aluminium framework system, with which it is possible to create free shapes that appear to be almost in motion. Covered with fabric or panels on both sides, the structural elements can be completely concealed. “We have been able to impress many exhibition construction companies and display manufacturers with our modular system because it enables them to build structures that look almost like conventional buildings,” explains international sales manager Sofie Tanghe. “And because the system consists of a finished framework rather than individual profiles, assembly time is reduced” (www.aluvision.com).   

The scouts of the architecture magazine AIT were at EuroShop, seeking to discover the top industry trends for 2014. At MBA they found what they were looking for: The sound-absorbing lightweight wall Mila-wall Acoustic won one of the coveted awards. “We were able to significantly improve the acoustics without losing any of the design quality or elegance of previous solutions. It made it possible to hold conversations in a quiet space away from the hustle and bustle,” explains MBA managing director Markus Militzer. At the same time, the installations of the Reutlingen-based company demonstrated the versatility of Mila-wall systems. Visitors were able to undertake a city tour through three pavilions representing the cities of Copenhagen, Budapest and finally Istanbul, where they came across a mirrored kaleidoscope of Turkish ornamentation (www.mba-worldwide.com).