Sessions

A conversation about the importance of signature spaces. Explore how a holistic ecosystem of colors, materials and finishes empowers architects to curate environments that are not just personalized, but deeply reflective of an individual's identity.  

Moderated by Chandler Pibl, Market Director Interiors at Modern Luxury

Panelists: Sanali McFadden, Director of Wellness & Spa at INNESS; Marianna Fiorin, Principal at Marianna Fiorin Interiors; Daun Curry, Principal at Daun Curry Studio

In this conversation, B. Alex Miller and Aoife O’Leary, partners at New York-based lighting design firm TM Light, will explore lighting design as interior design. Through a series of references to art, architecture, and interior design, they will explore how light is used as a medium that changes the way we see and feel a space.

When ground beneath us shifts - materially, geo-politically, ecologically, design becomes an instrument of negotiation. Every material carries consequence. Every supply chain encodes values. Every object mediates between power and responsibility.

Bringing together biomaterial innovation, material and industrial systems critique, and neuroaesthetic human-centered design, this opening dialogue cuts through the rhetoric of unity to confront its frictions. Through biological intelligence, material accountability, and embodied experience, the panel argues that shared futures are engineered, not inherited, and that designers can translate distance into dialogue, friction into form, and the human and other-than-human worlds into negotiated common ground.

If design is a soft power, what hard material realities must it confront?

In Partnership with STIR World

In a world where our feeds are flooded with beautiful spaces, how do you develop stories that are truly compelling? This conversation explores how design brands can move beyond aesthetics to create content powerful enough to be shared, saved, and talked about. From ambitious storytelling and consistent series to leveraging your network and investing in the right formats, we'll look at what it actually takes to spark meaningful conversations and grow a design brand in today's social media landscape.

In an era of rapid production and digital influence, craft remains one of design’s most powerful differentiators. This conversation brings together leading voices from design studios and heritage manufacturers to explore the value of materiality—from the sourcing and making of objects to their emotional and sensory impact in a space. Through real-world examples, panelists will discuss how thoughtful material choices shape narrative, elevate experience, and create lasting connection.

Immersive audio is opening new possibilities for how designers shape narrative, atmosphere, and emotional impact within the built environment. As spatial sound technologies evolve, they offer architects and designers a more immediate connection between conceptual intent and sensory experience, turning audio into a creative material rather than a technical afterthought.

This session explores how sound can strengthen brand identity, enrich storytelling, and elevate multi‑sensory design. Panelists will share both vision and actionable guidance, from building a shared vocabulary around spatial audio to understanding integration strategies that support seamless implementation. Designers will come away with a fresh framework for using sound intentionally, unlocking deeper engagement and expanding the expressive potential of contemporary spaces.

Sponsored by L'Acoustics

Emerging technologies are collapsing the distance between idea and execution. Generative systems, AI, digital fabrication, and intelligent production tools allow designers to move fluidly from concept to construction. While AI introduces unprecedented abundance, design still depends on intention and constraint. This session explores how designers can harness these tools to iterate more intelligently, personalize at scale, and differentiate their practice in a competitive market. We’ll examine how designers and architects can integrate emerging technologies thoughtfully, using them to expand creative potential while preserving taste, craft, authorship, and meaning.

Join us as we examine originality in an era when design is being frequently echoed and instantly reproduced. As copy culture intensifies, design leaders confront the impact on value, innovation and trust – and what it takes to create work with depth, integrity and meaning that imitation can echo but never replace.

In partnership with Be Original Americas

Toxic substances and unhealthy compounds remain pervasive in building materials—often hidden in everyday products, weakly regulated, and disproportionately impacting vulnerable communities. Designers and architects are increasingly working to change that.

This panel brings together Jonsara Ruth, co-founder and design director of Parsons School of Design’s Healthy Materials Lab, and Lara Kaufman, design principal and leader for Sustainability + Climate Action at Studio Gang. Moderated by Francisco Brown, senior editor and engagement manager at METROPOLIS, they will discuss how design can reduce toxic exposure while addressing industry challenges and social well-being, through applied research and integrated design.

In partnership with METROPOLIS and Healthy Materials Lab

As New York navigates a post-pandemic shift in how space is used, office-to-residential conversions are redefining the city’s future. This panel dives into a recent residential project in New York through the lens of the team behind it. Featuring voices from design, ownership, and manufacturing, the conversation will explore how an aging commercial structure is reworked into a contemporary living environment. Expect a candid look at constraints, collaboration, and the design strategies shaping one of New York’s most significant residential projects.

In partnership with Hospitality Design Magazine

Discover the next generation of designers at this showcase, where emerging talents pitch their lighting, furniture, and home-accessory pieces and prototypes to industry executives from around the globe.

In partnership with Clever and sponsored by Danver