NeoCon 2025 Preview: What You’ll Regret Missing If You Don’t Go

As NeoCon 2025 fast approaches, the design world is setting its sights on Chicago’s iconic THE MART for what promises to be one of the most ambitious and future-focused editions of the event to date. Taking place June 9–11, the 56th annual NeoCon brings together over 50,000 professionals across architecture, interiors, manufacturing, and facility management for three days of cutting-edge product launches, provocative keynotes, and immersive installations. This year’s theme, “Design Ahead,” isn’t just a slogan—it’s a call to action.

“NeoCon continues to be a powerful forum for design discovery and professional connection,” says Lisa Simonian, Vice President of Marketing for NeoCon. “Each year, we create opportunities for the industry to interact with design in new and unexpected ways, and 2025 will be no exception. We are committed to fostering lasting relationships and challenging attendees to rethink and reimagine what’s next—highlighting design’s vital role in shaping culture and the built environment.”

Experiences & Activations Encouraging creative exploration through sight, sound, and touch, this year’s experiences and activations span large-scale installations, pop-up galleries, and unexpected moments of engagement throughout THE MART and beyond––outlined below.

What’s New: Expanded Showrooms, First-Time Exhibitors, and Reimagined Spaces

Designers returning to THE MART will immediately notice the physical transformation of the space. Dozens of top-tier brands are debuting new or expanded showrooms: B Corp and carbon neutral Spanish furniture leader Andreu World (300) has doubled its footprint to unveil its 20,000-square-foot commitment to the brand’s 70-year commitment to a fully circular design economy:

“Driving a positive impact on both people and the planet, the new space strengthens our long-standing relationship with THE MART and our sustainable business growth,” says Jesús Llinares, Andreu World CEO. “It allows us to further our mission of bringing sustainable, forward-thinking design to a broader audience, aligning perfectly with THE MART’s legacy and commitment to innovation.”

Acoustics innovator Turf will introduce its massive new Experience Center. “The opening of the Turf Design Experience Center represents a major milestone for our team and stays true to Turf’s Chicago roots as a local manufacturer,” comments Rob Perri, Vice President, Brand Companies, Armstrong World Industries, parent company of Turf. “It is not only a testament to our dedication to innovation, quality, sustainability, and exceptional design but also an invitation to designers, specifiers, architects, and more to experience the limitless abilities of Turf.”

Among the newcomers at THE MART positioning themselves for long-term expansion within the North American market are: ergonomic seating manufacturer HÅG (1085); sustainable acoustics brand Baresque (Zintra+ FUNC.+ Botton+ Gardiner) (394); West Elm Work (10-165); Spanish furniture manufacturer Viccarbe (10-152); K-12 education furniture specialists Smith System (11-111); and architectural systems and ceilings solutions provider Arktura (10-154).

Arktura’s Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Patricia Kisereu emphasizes the transformative nature of their new space. “This isn’t just a showroom; it’s a vortex of possibility. We’re redefining how the industry engages with materials by creating a space to explore capability—bringing something bold, rebellious, and unlike anything seen before.”

7th Floor: New Exhibitors to Discover

NeoCon 2025 will introduce a number of new and returning companies to its 7th-floor Exhibit Hall. The floor will feature dedicated, amenity-rich spaces for immersive activations and curated experiences and companies including: design-forward European brands like Ferroluce SRL, PLYCOLLECTION, and Visplay GmbH; architectural products, flooring, and technology innovators such as Formica, Slalom, AHF Products, Behr Paint, Configura, and Cyncly; global sourcing exhibitors like Kano Global, Modernsolid Industrial, and Merryfair; and furniture and fabric specialists including Offices to Go, Ultrafabrics, Mantra Inspired Furniture, Virco, Emu, Nardi, and FEEK.

The revamped floor also includes immersive pop-ups like the Café Lounge by Armstrong Flooring (Center Pass-Through) which offers a relaxed setting for a coffee break and conversation.

Floor 10 provides a space to recharge and refocus during the show with the INDEAL Connection Hub (Suite 1086), featuring complimentary coffee, a daily happy hour, massage chairs, and touchdown workspaces available to all visitors. INDEAL members and partners enjoy added benefits, including access to bag check, personal lockers, and private meeting areas.

Throughout the building, this year’s sponsor spaces invite a sense of discovery. From Tucci’s enchanted Shade in Bloom installation at the Kinzie/Wells interior entrance, Haworth’s blue-lit fashion runway-inspired vignette in the South Lobby, to Calma’s special acoustic performances in the North Central Corridor and Turf’s DJ-led takeover of the frequented Freight 22 elevator in partnership with Elevator Music, each imaginative brand expression is designed to pique curiosity and energize the atmosphere inside THE MART.

Headline Keynotes: From Inclusive Innovation to Design as Cultural Catalyst

NeoCon 2025’s keynote lineup reads like a design futurist’s dream. Annie Jean-Baptiste, Google’s former Head of Product Inclusion, opens with a talk on inclusive innovation. She’ll be followed by British critic Alice Rawsthorn, who examines design as a social force, and Chris Barton, creator of Shazam, who will explore how seemingly impossible ideas become real through design thinking. The themes of equity, experimentation, and persistence underscore the show’s larger ethos: that design is not just functional, but transformational.

Building on the show’s dynamic keynote series, this year’s seven featured presentations bring together an elite roster of industry leaders, designers, and innovators. Experts from top firms like HOK, Gensler, Partners by Design, and CannonDesign will join renowned specialists on workplace strategy, neuroscience, diversity, equity, and inclusion for lively panels and discussions. Topics spotlight neuroinclusion, the evolution of public space, and the intersection of science and design, including insights on fractal-based stress reduction and neurodivergent.

Product Debuts That Point to the Future

NeoCon 2025 reveals a commercial design sector increasingly centered on emotional intelligence, modularity, sustainability, and digital integration. Highlights include:

· Zen add-ons by Silen: smart pods with soundscapes and adjustable lighting.

· UNA workstation for Nienkamper.

· Combi table lamp for Koncept Lighting.

· Clarus’s Lynk digital glass boards for intuitive collaboration.

· Parador introduces its eco-friendly Modular One design, a PVC free, water-resistant flooring is almost impossible to distinguish from real wood in terms of look and feel.

· Arktura’s programmable RGBW backlighting for architectural panels.

· Wolf-Gordon has expanded its Rampart wall protection line to include Rampart Fiber, a revolutionary, plant-based version of the company’s highly durable offering that combines natural beauty with exceptional performance.

As the concept of design as a therapeutic tool becomes more widely understood, biophilic design strategies, informed by neuroaesthetics, are reimagining both healthcare and commercial interiors. “This intuitive, non-verbal design language has the power to soothe the brain’s amygdala, lower stress, reduce heart rate, and more,” explains Von Robinson, founder of Play Orbit Studio and designer of Kwalu’s (1199) nature-inspired Ellie Recliner. “In healthcare especially, there’s a move away from cold, harsh, and clinical settings toward spaces that address holistic well-being with natural forms, materials, and rhythms that nurture recovery.”

At this year’s NeoCon, several exhibitors are introducing emotionally attuned products that balance comfort, aesthetic sensitivity, and cognitive support. Viccarbe’s (10-152) pillow-shaped Noha Chair brings residential warmth into shared spaces, while Andreu World’s (300) Calma Lounge embraces the body with enveloping arms, emphasizing restorative comfort.

Every product seems attuned to a changing workplace—one that values sensory wellness, neurodiversity, and agile use of space.

Why You Should Go

For architects and designers navigating a fast-evolving landscape of client expectations, climate mandates, and hybrid work, NeoCon 2025 is more than a product preview. It’s an ideas lab, networking epicenter, and cultural thermometer. Come for the chairs and textiles; stay for the provocations about what design can do—and where it’s headed.

While other trade shows like The International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) and Orgatec have faced challenges in recent years, with attendance levels not yet returning to pre-pandemic figures, in contrast, NeoCon has reported robust attendance, with over 50,000 industry professionals attending its last edition.

In the case of ICFF, its struggles may be attributed in part to the fair’s focus on contemporary residential design which may not align with the current market demand, and the debut of a new competing show, SHELTER in New York which put on a strong debut. On the other hand, NeoCon’s emphasis on the range of commercial interiors for a professional architecture and design audience, in addition to the fair’s comprehensive programming, including keynote presentations and educational sessions, have made the fair important for anyone interested in the contract market.

Registration is free at neocon.com. See you in Chicago.