At this year's first edition of the sprawling 1.8 million-square-foot bi-annual Salon Maison & Objet outside of Paris, it wasn't necessarily the newest design that had visitors stopping in their tracks.

Located strategically outside the press room was a show-stopping set of twin "Vortexx" chandeliers from architect/designer and honorary créateur of the 2008 salon, Zaha Hadid. Designed for Sawaya & Moroni in 2005, they came in white or black. But most of the 100,000 visitors to Maison & Objet had never seen them in person, and they were mesmerizing, curled like suspended ribbons of changing colored light. The light fixtures were unprecedented, other-worldly -- the most memorable sight at the salon.

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