A year ago, on occasion of the March book, we wrote about Africa’s progress as a continent of emerging culture and about the inexhaustible energy in Asia Pacific (especially China). Today we are (metaphorically) coming to terms with the recovery of Europe, which has made an important contribution to the world of design, creating hybrid concepts and configurations: from the workplace, to the hospitality sector, to the home, and back.
The world of work – which takes up much more time than that usually dedicated to our private lives – is simplified: walls disappear, partitions are moved, décor becomes more colourful, and spaces are shared. All of these changes are conditioning the way we work, as well as the way we live and design.
An excess of technology, connectivity, and input meets new generations (paradoxically those considered digital natives) who know how to filter and select information and who have a less individualistic approach. This new way of being evidently needed the right kind of space: less formal, more social, and at times contemplative and spiritual.
Great luxury will become even greater (see Bvlgari in Beijing), but also and above all more unique (admire the Blue Lagoon Retreat or the Amanyangyun). We must also pay attention to the WeWork phenomenon and to the advancement of the Room Mate model which was the first to indicate this new direction. As always, the ColorWorks® experts already predicted almost everything in the first two Color Stories, so we know what to expect in 2020.
Happy reading, and let yourselves be seduced.
