Patricia Urquiola's Influence Dominates NeoCon 2026 with Sosu, Patin, and Paved States

At NeoCon 2026, the annual contract furniture expo in Chicago, Patricia Urquiola's design sensibility was pervasive, shaping both her own collections and the broader trends on display. The Milan-based Spanish designer, who serves as art director of Haworth-owned Cassina, introduced the Sosu series for Haworth, featuring sofas, lounges, and tables with bouncy, overstuffed forms that signal a shift from blocky resimercial silhouettes toward residential comfort. For Andreu World, she created the Patin chair, which pairs a solid ash wood frame and continuous sled-like base with a fully upholstered seat and backrest, available in nine permutations including bar and counter stools. Urquiola also co-curated the Haworth-sponsored group installation "Paved States" in The Mart's lobby, showcasing emerging designers such as Lauren Goodman, Malcolm Majer, Hank Beyer, and Alex Sizemore. The expo's overall aesthetic reflected her influence: saturated hues in red, cobalt, and purple replaced beiges, browns, and blacks, and communal soft seating dominated over casegoods and desking systems, with Nienkämper as a notable exception. The event underscored Urquiola's cross-brand impact and the passing of the torch to a new generation of designers.