In this interview, designer Konstantin Landuris and Hanz-Dieter Gras, Marketing Director of Classen, share some exciting insights about what we can expect from their DOMOTEX display – as well as the future of interior design.

Mr. Landuris, your exhibit for Flooring Spaces is a futuristic space with a sleeping tube, water feature, concrete relief, and a green wall. Is this your vision for how we will live in the future?

Konstantin Landuris: "I am constantly busy thinking about how people will live in the future, whether in 50 years or 500. In my utopian imagination we will all live in comfortable spaces, with high-class interiors. Due to increased population density, rooms may not be huge but they will boast ample breathing space and beautiful materials. They will combine the best of everything! I wanted to show this in the Flooring Spaces display for Classen. Taking inspiration from Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion, I wanted the stand to have a futuristic feel and a marble floor that completely covered the room – including its walls. The pattern that will be hidden in the floor and wall coverings, will also run throughout the entire room – even in the bedding."

Heinz-Dieter Gras: "The concept behind our 'Flooring Space' is holistic and answers questions of what 'home' will look like in the year 2500. The floor is really important in interior design, it can completely change the atmosphere of a room. Whereas before, individualization was exclusive, in the future it will become standard. Manufacturers need to be able to react to this customer demand."

"Digital printing will make it much easier for the flooring industry to produce smaller batch sizes."

In January, for the first time DOMOTEX will have a lead theme: UNIQUE YOUNIVERSE . To what extent has this concept influenced the display from Classen?

Gras: "Our design center in Kaisersesch, Germany creates floor and wall coverings that are unique and developed completely individually according to the desires of the customer. The Flooring Spaces design from Konstantin Landuris was created in exactly the same way – with thanks to industrial digital printing. With traditional production methods, it was necessary to produce large lots. Now we are able to offer the customer more individualized designs in our flooring range, even with much smaller batch sizes."

Landuris: "This means that if an architect builds a 14-story skyscraper and wants a new and individual flooring for each level, this is completely reasonable."

How do you think this trend is set to develop in the long term?

Gras: "In an ever more competitive market, you have to position yourself clearly. Since Classen is an industrial company that adapts to the individual needs of a customer, we already have a unique selling point. This helps customers better differentiate in the competitive environment. In addition to our carpets being customizable they also have the advantage of being ecological and free from PVC and plasticizers."

Mr. Landuris, you are a product designer but you attended art college – this is a little unexpected. How have you managed the balance between art and interior design?

Landuris: "Actually, my diploma from art college was for 'Applied Interior Design'. Studying this, you learned a bit of everything and then used the various disciplines to produce some great results. Similarly, the Classen display is also guided by the theme of applied interior design. The idea is that we will create each and every element of the stand ourselves, right up to the last sculpture."

Heinz-Dieter Gras is Marketing Director at Classen . Interior architect Konstantin Landuris founded his Munich-based design studio in 2013.