Biophilia, Milan and the evolving design of office furniture.
Design week in Milan is a really glorious affair. To start with, it’s in Milan, it’s in the spring and it’s the culmination of so much of the world’s creative energy. On my first visit a few years ago I came away with much more than I anticipated going in, as is so often the case with events like this.
I have to confess that along with all the design work, showrooms and installations, an image that stays with me is all the leafy greenery throughout the city. I don’t think it’s just the fact that spring comes earlier to Milan than it does Toronto, but it was the intent with which plants have been carefully integrated to spaces, homes, terraces, courtyards, and streetscapes. It creates a sense of ease and peace and whether psychological or not, I felt I could breathe. Of course these spaces throughout the city are at a more human scale than they are in Toronto, and I can’t discount the impact of that as well, but even the smallest places have plants in window boxes, and vines growing up building faces and around archways. All these factors contribute to it being a really lovely place to be.
I was recently introduced to the idea of biophilic design. Biophilia, as I have learned, is an innate human tendency to connect with nature. When applied to design its focus is to encourage a connection to nature through the products and spaces that comprise the built environment.
On researching more about this, I realized that from a design perspective, it’s been with us for some time, percolating away, perhaps not always known widely as “biophilic’ but certainly with the intent of connecting us to nature and perhaps resulting in the same feel of home and calm.
Throughout the field of contract office furniture there has been a growing move to make furniture more ‘residential’ in feel. This has generally manifested itself in the use of solid wood and fabrics coupled with adjustments in scale and product compositions. But I wonder if this is perhaps, at a deeper level, not so much wanting a connection to home in the workplace but also a connection to nature.
Wood is warm, natural, it’s irregular giving it a ‘living’ feel and very structural, and as centuries of furniture making will attest, a perfect material for furniture. In the name of cost, efficiency, and perhaps unsustainable harvesting practices, it has fallen out of favour in past years, but it seems the loss of a connection to nature is being more widely recognized and wood is returning in strategic and thoughtful ways; and as a tour of Milan, and the Salone this year, so are plants.
At the furniture fair this year, one of the overwhelming themes was the use of plants — and plants in all sorts of ways. They are accenting minimal shelving pieces. They are acting as space division as tall plants in low planters or leafy plants densely located on shelves.
Walking around Milan, you can feel how this movement improves our environment; aesthetically, mentally, and in terms of privacy, air quality and temperature. Of course this evolution will require work and planning and shift in expectations. Plants need attention and care, and the transient nature of these new ‘home’ like workspaces will require their maintenance to become the responsibility of the employer not the employee.
As we better understand the value of our connection to nature, and specifically for our work, the ways this connection can be encouraged, the furniture and spaces we create will evolve and be enriched. It needs to be a collaborative exercise in that manufacturing of these pieces may need new elements and the environments they are going into will need to accommodate them through maintenance and access to natural light.
As designers, we’re always looking for compelling ways to make the built environment better. Growing interest (pun intended!) in growing things and the value they add to us all is a terrific opportunity, and will become a key element to our work. After all, don’t we all — plants and people alike — feel better with some light, fresh air and a peaceful setting!
