Located in the midst of the inspiring Colour Selection exhibition at the Pop up my Bathroom trend platform in the Europa Hall (Hall 4.0), the lecture forum is an informative hotspot. Initiated by the German Sanitary Industry Association (Vereinigung Deutsche Sanitärwirtschaft e.V. [VDS]) in collaboration with Messe Frankfurt, the programme is mainly aimed at the trade audience of bathroom planners and architects, but also at consumers who want to find out all about current trends and solutions on the Public Day.

“The Pop up Atelier lecture forum will be taking place for the fourth time this year and is evolving constantly. This year, we can look forward to a well-balanced and extremely interesting programme presented by numerous designers, architects, colour experts and industry insiders,” says Jens J. Wischmann, managing director of the VDS, of the lecture forum’s recipe for success. “This time round, professional bathroom design with colour is the overarching theme of the Pop up Atelier, and our speakers will be looking at it from a wide range of different perspectives.”

Each day, design journalist Frank A. Reinhardt will kick off the programme with an overview of 12 colour trends in interior design that are relevant for bathroom design, and which will be exclusively presented for the ISH in the Pop up my Bathroom exhibition. Colour expert Karl Johan Bertilsson (NCS Colour) will explore other aspects of the symbiosis between colours and trends, Dr Hildegard Kalthegener (Farbstudio Dr. K) will be taking a look at trend-oriented colour psychology, and Bernd Steltner and Dirk Dietz (HEWI) will be explaining how Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Theory of Colours can be applied in the bathroom. The series will be rounded off with a presentation by eminent colour specialist Prof Axel Venn on the influence our outdoor colour world will have on bathroom design in future.

In addition to “Colour” as the main area of focus, the Pop up Atelier forum will also pick up on trend topics like digitalisation, intelligent customer targeting, sustainability, lifestyle in the bathroom and lighting and explore them from various angles. Lighting expert Thorsten Moortz, for instance, will be establishing a relationship between light and colour. Together with Marie Striewe, he’ll also be showing how tablets can help make bathroom planning easier, while Torsten Müller will be presenting social media strategies for the sanitary and HVAC sector.

As always, the Pop up Atelier will also be hosting crowdpulling talks by designers of international standing. Those speaking about their design concepts in 2019 will include Jean Marie Massaud, Stefan Diez, Gesa Hansen, Christian Sieger, Michael Schmidt and Peter Ippolito.

Panel discussions are also part of this year’s Pop up Atelier programme again: the VDS Talk, for instance, will be asking what the new cosiness that’s taking hold in bathrooms means for the skilled trades and dealers. The topics up for discussion will also include the opportunities and challenges that come with using colour in bathroom planning.

All lectures will be simultaneously translated into English or German as appropriate.

Click here for the complete programme.