The Crossroads
Exhibition & Environmental Graphics
To coincide with a renewed vision for New York’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair, Rockwell Group conceived The Crossroads, a site-specific exhibition featuring the work of more than a dozen designers with a diverse range of background and experiences. The dynamic installation highlighted American craftsmanship that coalesced to form “At the Crossroads of American Design: Celebrating the Established and the Emerging” (2023) and “At the Crossroads of American Design: Sustainability in Practice and in Spirit” (2024).
- Client
- ICFF + WantedDesign Manhattan
- Project Category
- Exhibition & Environmental Graphics
For the exhibition’s inaugural edition, the team created a cinematic backdrop to accompany a playful and immersive showcase of American design from across the country. The scene referenced two pillars of Americana: the great outdoors and the American home.
When the exhibition returned for its second year, the time with the added lens of sustainability to provide a renewed focus, the team created a mural made from recycled fibers depicting a desert superbloom to mirror the vibrancy and cohesion of creative communities making a collective impact. United by entrepreneurship, individuality and a love of making, both editions ignited discussions about what American design can mean, right at the heart of the fair.
“We wanted to explore the notion of duality and contradiction in American design—the strengths that are inherent in the established and the emerging; the merging of technology with hand-craftsmanship; the need for practicality to go hand-in-hand with fantasy. I think American designers are constantly trying to meld those worlds.”
With Rockwell Group leading the creative direction and supporting the curation of exhibitors, Crossroads highlighted the qualities shared by designers across the industry spectrum. The exhibition was bolstered by a series of dialogues and conversations inviting deeper engagement with fair visitors and the design community at large.
2023
Product Partners: Bower Studios, BZIPPY, Coil + Drift, drop it MODERN, Fort Standard, Ladies & Gentlemen Studio, and Superflower Studio
Product Contributors: Alexis Tingey, Bradley L. Bowers, David Weeks Studio, Grain, Liam Lee, Lumber Club Marfa, Nifemi Ogunro, Norman Teague Design Studio, Sophie Lou Jacobsen, and Sunshine Thacker/Love House
2024
Lead Partners: Designtex and Skram
Partners: Alexis & Ginger, Colony, Liora Manné, Loose Parts, Office of Tangible Space, OkaTerra by Common Object Studio, Talbot & Yoon
Contributors: Daniel Michalik, Elodie Blanchard, Kamilla Csegzi, Lichen, LikeMindedObjects, Madeline Isakson, MushLume Lighting, Sahra Jajarmikhayat, thehighkey
Community Collaborators: Youth Design Center with Destiny Jacobs, MetroPaint in partnership with PaintCare Oregon
Lighting Consultant: Focus Lighting