Mastering materials: The future of Thai design
Taking place at the upcoming Salone del Mobile in Milan, the Host & Home 2026 exhibition showcases 15 leading brands, including Amo Arte, Corner 43 Décor, Res, Takehomedesign, and Thorrs, each offering a material-driven take on contemporary Thai design.
Materials often shape the identity of a project as much as form or function. At Host & Home 2026, presented at the Thailand Pavilion during Salone del Mobile (21–26 April), this perspective comes into focus through a curated selection of Thai brands exploring the intersection of material innovation, craftsmanship, and contemporary living.
Initiated by Thailand’s Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP), Host & Home has, since 2015, supported local entrepreneurs in developing design-led furniture and lifestyle products, with a strong focus on creativity and production innovation. The project brings together companies that blend manufacturing expertise with clear design direction, positioning Thai design within an international context while staying deeply connected to local resources and cultural identity.
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At the 2026 edition, fifteen Thai brands will present their work, showcasing collections created for both residential and hospitality environments. In this article, we are excited to highlight five of these brands: Amo Arte, Corner 43 Décor, Res, Takehomedesign, and Thorrs. Their pieces reflect a balance between comfort, functionality, and aesthetic clarity, designed to create spaces that feel familiar, even in transient settings such as hotels or temporary living environments.
Materials play a central role in these collections. From bamboo and reclaimed elements to metals and locally sourced resources, each brand approaches materiality as both a technical and expressive tool, shaping objects that respond to contemporary lifestyles while remaining rooted in their cultural origin.
Among the Host & Home exhibitors:
Amo Arte: Bamboo as structure and narrative
Among the exhibitors, Amo Arte builds its identity around bamboo, a renewable resource that informs both structure and aesthetics. The brand develops furniture and decorative pieces, ranging from lighting to sculptural objects, through artisan techniques that incorporate traditional Thai patterns and motifs. Each product reflects a clear commitment to sustainable living and renewable resources, translating cultural references into contemporary forms while maintaining a strong connection to craftsmanship.
Corner 43 Décor: Layered textures and local materials
A different interpretation of material research emerges with Corner 43 Décor, where locally sourced materials are combined with newer resources to create layered, textural compositions. Drawing inspiration from the tropical environment as well as from the dialogue between past and present, the brand works through surfaces, colours, and patterns to produce furniture and home accessories that feel both tactile and inviting. This approach results in pieces that balance familiarity and innovation, shaped by a continuous interplay between tradition and contemporary design.
Res: Metal as precision and durability
With over seventy years of experience, Res approaches materiality from an industrial perspective, specialising in metal craftsmanship. Steel, aluminium, and stainless steel are used to develop a wide range of furniture and decorative elements, extending from interior pieces to outdoor applications. Beyond furniture, the brand positions itself as a provider of solutions designed to enhance everyday living, combining technical expertise with a strong focus on quality and long-term performance.
Takehomedesign: Reclaimed materials and lightness of form
Material experimentation also defines the work of Takehomedesign, where contemporary aesthetics meet responsible production. The brand’s G Collection explores clean, architectural lines combined with flat-pack engineering, resulting in lightweight yet structured pieces with carefully balanced proportions. Alongside this, the multi-award-winning RE-UP Collection reworks reclaimed materials into distinctive objects, reinforcing a design approach that integrates reuse into the creation of new, design-led forms.
Thorrs: Craft as a bridge between communities and design
Finally, Thorrs brings a socially driven dimension to material-based design. The brand focuses on connecting local craftsmanship with contemporary production and global distribution, working closely with communities, including women and elderly artisans, to generate economic and cultural value.
Through this process, materials and techniques become tools for preserving local knowledge, using culture as a foundation to bridge traditional wisdom with the modern world.
What connects these brands is not a single aesthetic language, but a shared way of approaching design, one that begins with materials. Thailand’s natural resources, combined with a long-standing tradition of craftsmanship, offer a foundation that is constantly reinterpreted through contemporary processes and production methods. But what happens when local materials meet a global design mindset? The result is a body of work that feels both rooted and forward-looking.
Each brand maintains its own identity, yet contributes to a broader narrative, one where design is shaped by context, culture, and making, while remaining open to international dialogue. The collections presented at Host & Home reflect this balance, bringing together objects that can adapt to different environments without losing their sense of origin. There is a quiet coherence across the exhibition, not in style, but in intention.
Sustainability naturally becomes part of this conversation. Whether through renewable materials, reclaimed components, or responsible production processes, these projects reflect an awareness that goes beyond aesthetics. It raises a simple question: can design today exist without considering its long-term impact? Here, the answer seems to take form through tangible, material choices.
From April 21 to 26, 2026, visitors to Hall 7, Booth D10 will encounter a selection of objects where material, process, and identity converge. A moment to observe, but also to reflect: how does design evolve when it remains deeply connected to the resources, and cultures, that shape it?
