Collectible moved both the date and location for the annual NYC edition of the Brussels-based design fair. The early November shift now basically aligns with the new Art Week NYC event aimed to celebrate contemporary art across the city. Getting the the 2026 edition of the fair also required a trip uptown to a gutted former movie theater on 86th street.

The interior was raw and seemingly a construction site on break. It was cool to wander around the old theater spaces and see remnants of the screens, projection booths and seat rows. However the lighting inside was not great for photography and pretty uneven from booth to booth. There wasn’t much consideration for the ambient light of the show and that could have been pretty cool in a space like this. Anyone who remembers Galapagos 1.0 on North 6th will know what I’m thinking.

The fair spanned two floors and a mezzanine and followed the same organization categories as past iterations, Main, Bespoke, Curated, Fashion, New Garde and Special Projects. Bespoke took up the vast majority of floor space with other categories consisting of group collections.

Personally, my favorite was the Curated project by Alex Tieghi-Walker called Human Resources. It presented work from designers exploring the pre-Y2K office environment through furniture and accessories that reflected the ambition chasing and work ethics from what we now know as the peak of the collective workplace.

One particular piece that got my attention was the Canopy light by LM Studio. This small floor lamp has a series of motor-driven metal screens that project kinetic shadow patterns on the wall mimicking sunlight shining through leaves. The lamp has several controls allowing for the adjustment of speed to simulate a calm breeze or a strong wind. The lamp itself looked mechanical and ‘un-designed’ but the light patterns were delicate and beautiful to watch.

Photos and Text: Dave Pinter