Today large international cities are affected by a process of re-naturalisation aimed at incorporating nature into the urban landscape. Similarly, architecture and interior design are influenced by a widespread desire to reconnect with nature that is barely domesticated and to let natural elements forcefully enter domestic environments, becoming “structural” parts of the design, while bringing benefits in terms of livability, energy saving and the quality of life of living spaces.
This macro trend, which is part of the broader sustainability trend, enters domestic environments through two concrete manifestations, Second Nature and Raw Style: the first is designed to re-create nature inside the house through the use of design, reconciling with the primordial elements of life, while the second, with its predilection for natural, humble materials, introduces a new aesthetic code that elevates imperfections and the unfinished into new decorative elements.
Second Nature has an “organic design”, as in the Fallen Tree bench by Benjamin Graindorge, which harmoniously combines a linear seat with a glass support and a rough wooden “sculpture” that rests on a real branch, a bridge between the origin and end use of an object through its transformation.
Eclipse of Rainbow by Eugenia Antoniou also features biomimicry: the lamp can create eclipses and rainbows through an interplay of colours and shadows, reproducing an astonishing experience indoors. There is also Alive Furniture such as the Pull Me To Life living drawer by Juno Jeon and the Fade cabinets, true mutant objects.
Raw Style features rough surfaces, textures with a material appearance and deliberately irregular finishes, in which it is sometimes nature itself that spontaneously creates furnishing elements, as in the case of the Full Grow furniture by Gavin Munro, objects made from a single piece of wood derived from trees that are specially planted and “guided” as they grow.
The Flora tables by Silva and Santona also feature raw materials and craftsmanship: they are the sort of plants that you should offer to people who you love, featuring black cork agglomerate “soil” for the base and oak wood veneer “foliage” on the top.
