IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 25

what will it look like? how will it function? what technologies will it incorporate? will it even be a physical
space, or just walls of interactive touch-screens that
magically conjure virtual environments? visionaries
offer their predictions—and reveal how the future is
already here. the showroom of the future will be…

SheTh: Customers need clarity in an increasingly chaotic world.
At our showroom in the D&D Building, we try to provide
that through a serene setting displaying as little product as
possible amid an abundance of natural light, which is needed
to properly evaluate color.
GOldmaN: Since designers’ offices are becoming increasingly
technology oriented, showrooms are their best opportunity
to have a tactile, larger-than-life experience.

portable and diasporic

Showrooms will become more modular, mobile, and
temporary in nature, and distributed in more places with greater
flexibility and lower costs. In 25 years, showrooms will be virtual,
accessed from wearable technology.

JONeS:

modular and adaptable

hOlCOmB: Our new Beijing showroom is a model of multitasking.

Infinity, the design firm, was challenged to incorporate myriad
elements into just 394 square feet without making it feel
cluttered: collaboration and product-review areas, hospitality
space, product displays, graphic treatments, workstations, private
meeting areas, and ample storage. They created an open-plan
layout with no specific function assigned to any one area, which
enables us to fully utilize the whole space. The reception counter
doubles as a collaboration bar, for instance, and the meeting room
can transform into part of the product-display area via slidingglass panels or link to the office area to become a flexible work/
collaboration space.

better able to showcase products in context

Seeing a product installed, versus in endless rows
of samples, is the next evolution. Our own showroom displays
products in their life-size, installed state to help clients—who
are used to working with small samples—realize the impact that
patterns, materials, and colors have on their project.
VINGeRhOeTS: Rendering technology can help give people a more
realistic view of how a product might look in their environment.
WaldRep: Crossville already has virtual design tools on our Web
site; imagine those available on larger screens, so designers can
see the tile they’re considering in room-scene images—right then
and there. Those augmented-reality experiences could enhance
the designers’ capabilities and help them guide clients to make
big decisions with more assurance. With virtual technology, we’ll
be able to view samples via computer or tablet, and then print
out, in extremely high resolution, only what’s needed.
deGRaCe: Our materials are tactile as well as visual, so we’re not
quite ready to surrender totally to virtual tools. Designers still
want to touch the tiles, drop them on the floor, work them into
combinations, and see them in the multiplicity of a pattern, zone,
or full environment. They visit showrooms to help better envision
the abstract of a single floor tile composed into a complete space.
JONeS: “Third-place” workspaces will give teams and smallbusiness entrepreneurs opportunities to test products and
ideas while working.
GOldmaN:

physical and experiential

Virtual technology will work in concert with physical
space. It’s a good starting point for gaining an understanding
of a brand, its products, and options; however, customers need
to touch and feel product. They also need to experience the
emotional aspects of a space that can only be felt by being there.
WaldRep: For best impact, technology must work in harmony
with the display of physical samples. Products like our porcelain,
stone, and glass tile collections show and sell best in a multisensory experience; designers need to see and touch options
to make the most informed decisions. Showrooms and trade
shows are the vortex of product education and inspiration.
They allow a designer to connect with experts for a one-on-one
introduction to the latest products. That story is best told live
and in person. While the showroom of the future will be more
steeped in technology, it will never abandon its core purpose:
allowing designers to see, touch, and experience products
firsthand and discover -actual products in application.
GReeN:

ideas driven—and idea-generating

Showrooms are valuable to designers when they convey
compelling stories that are less about product and more about
ideas. Product will invariably remain part of all showrooms,
but when placed within a space without context or intent, their
application significance is somewhat less relevant. For a space
to be helpful in the specification process, it needs to demonstrate
a range of possibilities. Ideally, showrooms should help lead
a designer to a place where they may or may not have gone
on their own.
GReeN:

perspectIve

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013