Commercial Interiors
The power of wood in interior design
March 12, 2026
Explore smart wood design palettes and practical uses of wood-inspired laminates in interiors from the Formica® Woods Collection.
3daysofdesign: FENIX® and Formica® present FAST / FORWARD
From June 18 to 20 at 3daysofdesign in Copenhagen, FENIX® and Formica® join forces and present the FAST / FORWARD project. The exhibition, curated by Federica Sala, enhances the synergy between the two brands with a narrative that looks to the future while maintaining a connection with the past.
“FAST / FORWARD proposes a journey through time, from the past to the present and vice versa, in a circuit that reflects on the relationship between surfaces, colours, patterns and design styles thanks to the work of six international design studios. Each of them was asked to reinterpret, under the Formica® and FENIX® brands, a decade or a twenty-year period from the 1920s to 2000s,” says Federica Sala.
The designers—Federica Biasi, Laurids Gallée, Panter&Tourron, Thabisa Mjo, Tino Seubert and Uchronia— explore the potential of these materials in contemporary design by combining history with innovation.
Designed by Parco Studio and created by the MUSA team, visitors are welcome to this time-travel experience. The research period goes from the 1920s—the decade following the invention of Formica® high-pressure laminates that started a revolution in the world of living spaces—to 2010, years in which FENIX® entered the world of surfaces with its innovative materials, signalling a new important turning point.
The selection of designers, ranging from Northern Europe to South Africa, highlights the widespread presence of the two brands. The choice embraces not only names linked to industrial design but also to craftsmanship and decoration, exploring languages of different decades through diverse creative approaches.
01000010 00110010 01000110 - BACK TO THE FUTURE, design by THABISA MJO
01000010 00110010 01000110 - Back to the Future by South African designer Thabisa Mjo is a piece that embraces the design heritage of the 1920s and 1930s and the Art Deco aesthetic by using FENIX® materials and Formica® laminates. It is a cabinet that modernises futurist influences and the concept of progress.
The reflection on time-as suggested by the title Back to the Future-becomes the key to interpreting the project: a volume that serves as a functional sculpture, where design, technology, and memory are interwoven.
The chosen surfaces emphasise the contrast between matte and gloss, matter and form: Formica® Jet Sequoia and Calacatta Marble alternate deep veining and decorative patterns, while FENIX® Nero Ingo and Piombo Doha add visual intensity and a soft tactile experience.
"In this project, I want to highlight that we live in the future that designers in the Art Deco era imagined. Back to the Future is a functional cabinet that reflects the ideas and the style of that time through innovative materials and surfaces capable of being transformed," says Thabisa Mjo.