“As nature teaches” is not just a slogan for the new Flou communication campaign. It is the concept behind the whole 2020 collection. A deep ideal that guides the hands of the designers called upon to represent this philosophy that is fully embraced by the company in all its aspects.
From nature, Flou takes values – abstract yet tangible ones, in an emotional dimension – such as harmony, authenticity, vital energy, to concretely transform them in a new aesthetic concept; what is born in nature, shaped, developed, evolved, becomes a source of inspiration for the creation of everyday objects. Solutions for the bedroom zone and the living area, all the way to lighting, are shaped and rounded by the hands of Matteo Nunziati, Carlo Colombo, Emanuela Garbin, Steve Leung, Studio Contromano, Pinuccio Borgonovo, Marco Acerbis; an array of creative talents that has grown, like the family of furnishings in the Flou catalogue, expanded and developed in the proposals for 2020.
This growth ‘in progress’ is very dynamic and mutable, just as nature teaches – an indispensable reference, summed up in Flou’s new design. The result is a collection that allows us to truly live in connection with the environment.
Matter and Space
The natural focus of the 2020 collection is expressed in the choices of materials for the products. What material, if not wood, could best represent this connection? Matteo Nunziati explores its potential to give form to the Gaudí double bet: the headboard and footboard are in solid wood (coffee oak or black-stained oak finish), and use careful craftsmanship to create a light framework that lets itself be wrapped by the textile covering. The wooden structure seems to be shaped by the force of the wind, generating soft curves – a perfect summary of the dynamism of nature.
“Nature has always been my teacher; the tree near my studio is my teacher,” said Antoni Gaudí, the exceptional exponent of Catalan modernism and champion of the curved line, which is “continuously varied in its direction, forced by a sort of inner charge of dynamite ready to explode in all directions. A line that grows, struggling and twisting like a natural element, admits straight sections, breaks, returns, conquering and taming space, time after time.” This is the inspiration behind the new bed designed for Flou, in the words of the designer.
Gaudì by Flou, Design Matteo Nunziati
Movement and Form
Lilia by Flou, Design Steve Leung
The original creation by Steve Leung in his debut with the Flou brand is conceptually close to the sinuous aesthetic of Gaudí. The Lilia chair symbolizes the delicacy of a flower that has just blossomed, the beauty of the petals as they open. According to the designer, “with its contemporary elegance and asymmetrical form, it pays homage to the purity of nature.” Its organic forms are dictated by the back, which continues seamlessly to form the asymmetrical armrests, uniformly embracing the seat. A 360-degree swivel chair, Lilia offers even more theatrical effects thanks to the movement of the base, which suggests the natural opening of buds; an effect that can be accentuated thanks to the possibility of combining fabrics and leathers of two different types, for the outer part of the back and the inner part of the base.
Icon by Flou, Design Carlo Colombo
From grand landscapes to restricted residential panoramas, a continuous sequence of forms determines the most evocative settings. The same idea of movement that generates forms and defines spaces and objects has guided Carlo Colombo to bring new expression to the Icon collection. From the characteristic feature of the bed – created in 2018 – a program of seating components develops, with enveloping, modern lines and a suspended, minimal structure. “A versatile proposal of comfort that adapts to all domestic areas, thanks to a light, sophisticated image, proportions studied in great detail, and great care in the implementation,” the designer says. Visible metal details are replicated in the base and the feet, updating the balance of the proportions, but the results are unexpected and surprising at times, thanks to countless compositional possibilities: the space gains rhythm from seats for two or three users – with or without armrests, or with a choice of a single armrest on the left or right – and chaises longues.
The 2020 collection by Flou is therefore a flux of forms, inspirations and impressions that do not fail to address the chromatic aspects, in yet another tribute to nature with their emulation of the alternation of day and night, the tones of dawn and dusk. Or taking colors to the extremes of black and white. The research is carefully gauged as a whole, in order to lead back to a condition of absolute equilibrium.
