Illustrated in faceted volumes, sharp angles and precise patterns, contemporary design is boldly displaying its love of plain geometry.
Contemporary Furniture
Clean edges are nothing new to modern furniture design, but the current geometric furniture trend takes things a step further. Ranging from straight-backed sofas to pure geometric tables, hard-edged volumes are a modern design trend, and we've got the proof. The Kartell Max Beam offers a geometry lesson as a multifunctional design that is part stool, part side table, and totally transparent, perfect for indoor and outdoor spaces alike. The Blu Dot Bloke Collection makes an enveloping square back its trademark, while the Artek Trienna Table, a 954 classic, features a trio of triangles that remain perfectly on-point.
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Innovative Rugs
New statement rugs from GAN Rugs illustrate that contemporary area rugs are taking geometry to innovative heights, moving beyond merely woven motifs to defining shape itself. Patricia Urquiola's 100% wool Mirage Rug, above, is a work of genius, comprised of artfully woven color gradients and geometric modules that extend beyond the rug's rectangular shape to create a jagged edge. The Gus* Gradient Rug features an elegant abstract composition of overlapping squares, while the Nanimarquina Melange Rug offers a stark checkerboard pattern modernists will find hard to resist.
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Striking Wallpaper
Geometric wallpaper motifs are bigger and bolder than ever, ensuring the evolution of contemporary wallpaper from supporting player to star attraction. Japanese-inspired repeat patterns by Graham & Brown—illustrated in the emphatic geometric power of Sashiko, above—aren't for the faint of heart, but its easy application is designed for a quick, statement-worthy upgrade. Milton & King brings rhythm to simple geometry with its Lignes Wallpaper wallpaper—managing the feat of being both subtle and attention-getting—while Tempaper's Soleil Wallpaper, inspired by Morocco's colorful culture, is bold and eye-catching.
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Dramatic Lighting
The trend towards geometric lighting is on dramatic (and innovative) display in the award-winning Sonneman Suspenders Gallery Pendant Light, above, which features a meticulously composed geometric network of horizontal bars and vertical suspension lights. Smaller scale geometry—but no less dramatic—is evident in the Tersus Wall Light from Cerno, a minimalist, rectangular panel crafted from marble, brass or solid wood for an elevated design. The Troy Lighting Origami Pendant makes use of asymmetric geometry, combining an angled abstract form with a sumptuous glass globe.
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Eye-catching Textiles
Home textiles with geometric motifs bring an element of drama to an interior scheme, and, thanks to design's current fixation, there's plenty of geometry from which to choose. Contemporary textiles from Ferm Living make use of simple lines and shapes on pillows and throw blankets—like the squarely great Squares Baby Alpaca Throw, a hand-loomed, reversible throw, with bold grid pattern. Sunday Citizen's Tulum Throw, which reprises a zig-zag grid pattern, makes a dramatic decorative statement, whether strewn across sofa or thrown across shoulders.
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Distinctive Decor
Three vases in one, the clean lines and colorful sides of the Mondri Vase by MoMa, above, an elegant transparent acrylic composition, beautifully illustrating modern decor's current preoccupation with geometric forms. Blu Dot's best-selling 100% Trays remains ahead of the curve, offering up three perfect squares in one versatile design, while Ferm Living's Pond Trivet a solid brass composition, featuring organic shapes is far too beautiful to hide beneath a hot vessel. The Seletti Cut & Paste Mirror, a faceted metal and mirrored glass beauty, gives glamorous geometric dimension to an ordinary wall mirror.
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