The Inside World Festival of Interiors has just revealed a massive shortlist for its Awards celebrating the most compelling, innovative and experimental interior designs from the last twelve months. The expansive selection of shortlisted entrants acts as a perfect snapshot of the state of interior design in 2018.
Inside World Festival of Interiors is a sister festival to the World Architecture Festival, both taking place this year in Amsterdam in November. The Awards span nine categories covering the breadth of interior design as something that is both complimentary to larger architectural installations, and a comprehensive structural design in and of itself.
The categories cover commercial spaces such as bars and restaurants, retail, hotels and display rooms. There are also categories examining residential interiors, offices and larger civic spaces such as museums or libraries.
Some of the more spectacularly creative shortlisted entries this year include Australian artist Chris Fox's gravity-defying installation that repurposed an old wooden escalator in a Sydney subway, Vo Trong Nghia Architects' amazing cave-like bamboo interior for a cafe in Vietnam, and a striking apartment in Taiwan that is so white and futurist it resembles a set from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
One of the most fascinating sets of entries in the shortlist comes from the Shanwei Weng, part of Chinese design firm AN Design. Two shortlisted entries in the Bar and Restaurant category showcase this designer's bold take on maximalist aesthetics, but the obsessive metallic sheen of the Mr Maimai store in Hangzhou takes the cake for an singular idea taken to its absolute extreme conclusion.
Take a look through the gallery for a glimpse at some of our favorite shortlisted entries in this comprehensive design competition.
Source: Inside