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Maison&Objet January 2026: the future, rehearsed in memory

Stella Manferdini

18.12.25

Keywords:

Innovation , Craftsmanship , Hospitality , Retail , Maison&Objet Paris , Decor

There are editions of Maison&Objet that document a moment, and others that attempt something more ambitious: to recalibrate the cultural compass of design itself. The January 2026 edition belongs to the latter. Under the theme Past Reveals Future, the Parisian fair does not indulge in nostalgia, nor does it fetishize innovation for its own sake. Instead, it stages a subtle but radical proposition: that the future of design will be authored by those capable of reading the past not as a static inheritance, but as an active, transformable substance.

For over thirty years, Maison&Objet has functioned as a meeting ground between crafts and industry, between artisanal knowledge and global markets. In 2026, this historical role acquires renewed urgency. At a time when acceleration risks flattening meaning, the fair slows the gaze, inviting designers, manufacturers and specifiers to consider time as a material in itself, layered and fertile.

Past Reveals Future: tradition as living matter

The theme Past Reveals Future articulates this stance with uncommon clarity. Here, tradition is not a closed canon but a field of potential mutations. Techniques once transmitted through apprenticeship now intersect with digital tools; materials long associated with permanence are reinterpreted through processes of reuse and hybridization. Furniture, no longer conceived as a mere sequence of functional objects, emerges as a carrier of memory and knowledge, charged with an almost anthropological depth. Each creation becomes a trace projected forward, part of an ongoing continuum in which heritage and imagination are inseparable.

Synthetic imprint <br /> Image copyright: ©Maison&Objet

Synthetic imprint
Image copyright: ©Maison&Objet

Solstice Bloom <br /> Image copyright: ©Maison&Objet

Solstice Bloom
Image copyright: ©Maison&Objet

Four cultural undercurrents shaping the edition

This conceptual framework permeates the entire edition, shaping both its scenography and its curatorial intelligence. Four underlying narratives – metamorphosis, mutation, recomposed baroque and neo-folklore – run like tectonic lines beneath the fair. They are not trends in the conventional sense, but cultural vectors: ways of thinking about form, matter and meaning in an era defined by ecological urgency and symbolic saturation. Upcycling becomes alchemy rather than compromise; ornament returns, but disciplined and re-authored; vernacular cultures reappear, filtered through contemporary technologies and new modes of storytelling.

Living Matters exhibition <br /> Image copyright: ©Maison&Objet

Living Matters exhibition
Image copyright: ©Maison&Objet

Designer of the Year 2026: Harry Nuriev and transformism

At the centre of this edition stands Harry Nuriev, named Designer of the Year 2026, whose practice encapsulates the fair’s intellectual ambition with remarkable coherence. Founder of Crosby Studios, Nuriev has long rejected the tabula rasa approach that dominates much contemporary design. His philosophy, which he terms Transformism, is grounded in the conviction that creation today must begin with what already exists. Objects, interiors and even brand identities are not replaced but reworked, their latent histories amplified rather than erased. The result is a body of work that oscillates between minimalism and conceptual density, between functional design and artistic proposition.

For Maison&Objet, Nuriev conceives an immersive environment that resists spectacle in favour of introspection. His scenography operates as a meditation on perception, asking visitors to reconsider their relationship with the everyday. In a world saturated with images and novelty, his work insists on attention, on the ethical dimension of transformation, and on the possibility that design can still act as a critical language. Positioned between collectible design and contemporary art, his projects resonate not through excess, but through their capacity to articulate the spirit of a moment.

Paris Apartment by Crosby Studios <br /> Image copyright: @Benoit Florencon

Paris Apartment by Crosby Studios
Image copyright: @Benoit Florencon

Ambition by Ana Montoya <br /> Image copyright: @Maison&Objet

Ambition by Ana Montoya
Image copyright: @Maison&Objet

CURATIO: a sanctuary for sensitive and functional design

This attention to authorship and meaning finds a parallel in CURATIO, the curated design environment conceived by Thomas Haarmann, which returns in January 2026 after a widely noted debut. Located in Hall 1, CURATIO is deliberately removed from the frenetic logic of the trade fair. Conceived as a gallery-village hybrid, it privileges coherence over competition, silence over saturation. Sixty carefully selected pieces are presented within a scenography of calibrated restraint, allowing materials, proportions and gestures to speak without interference.

CURATIO proposes a vision of design that is both sensitive and exacting, where craftsmanship is neither nostalgic nor decorative, but rigorously contemporary. Many of the works on display exist at the threshold between function and art, questioning the role of the object in domestic, hospitality and retail contexts. Limited editions, raw or precious materials, and organic forms converge to produce an experience that is less about consumption than contemplation. In this sense, CURATIO operates as a counterpoint to the fair itself: a space for deceleration, for encounter, and for the formation of a discreet but demanding community.

The Talks <br /> Image copyright: ©Maison&Objet

The Talks
Image copyright: ©Maison&Objet

Six sectors, one holistic vision of design

The broader structure of Maison&Objet 2026 unfolds across six sectors, reaffirming Paris’s status as a global design capital. Furniture and high-end design occupy a central position, but they do so within a lifestyle vision that integrates craft, fashion, fragrance, wellness and gift cultures. This transversal approach reflects an understanding of design not as an isolated discipline, but as a system of practices shaping how we inhabit space, time and social relations.

One of the most emblematic expressions of this philosophy is the Manufactures of Excellence Village, a new focal point dedicated to French artisanal savoir-faire. Situated within the Signature & Projects sector, this space articulates a contemporary reinterpretation of baroque values: not opulence for its own sake, but intensity of detail, precision of execution and narrative richness of material. The participating workshops, all recognized as Living Heritage Companies, represent a vision of luxury grounded in transmission, patience and technical mastery. Here, ornament is not applied but constructed, emerging from the intelligence of the hand and the discipline of the process.

Shifted mirrors <br /> Image copyright: ©Maison&Objet

Shifted mirrors
Image copyright: ©Maison&Objet

What’s New? Reading the near future

Running parallel to these structural pillars, the What’s New? spaces once again function as prospective lenses, offering a critical reading of emerging practices across decor, hospitality and retail. Rather than dictating trends, these environments propose hypotheses. In decor, the future interior is imagined as modular, reassuring and emotionally legible, capable of adapting to evolving lifestyles without sacrificing depth or beauty. In hospitality, cinematic references and architectural restraint converge to suggest spaces that are both intimate and timeless, where dreaming is not opposed to function. In retail, the store reclaims its role as a site of imagination, where materiality and narrative once again shape desire in an increasingly dematerialized economy.

Beyond the exhibition halls, Maison&Objet extends into the city through its IN THE CITY programme, weaving together showrooms, galleries and studios across Paris. This porous relationship between fair and metropolis reinforces the idea of design as a lived experience rather than a closed circuit, rooted in context and exchange.

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HOME |

GLIMPSES

Maison&Objet January 2026: the future, rehearsed in memory

Maison&Objet Paris. Jan. 15-19, 2026

Past Reveals Future: tradition as living matter

Synthetic imprint
Image copyright: ©Maison&Objet

Solstice Bloom
Image copyright: ©Maison&Objet

Four cultural undercurrents shaping the edition

Living Matters exhibition
Image copyright: ©Maison&Objet

Designer of the Year 2026: Harry Nuriev and transformism

Paris Apartment by Crosby Studios
Image copyright: @Benoit Florencon

Ambition by Ana Montoya
Image copyright: @Maison&Objet

CURATIO: a sanctuary for sensitive and functional design

The Talks
Image copyright: ©Maison&Objet

The Talks
Image copyright: ©Maison&Objet