To get back in touch with nature, which made us feel so good during summer holidays, we don’t necessarily have to go to live in a cabin like the philosopher-poet Henry David Thoreau, author of Walden; or, Life in the Woods, an American literary classic from the 1800s.
Then too, given the almost tropical climate, the jungle is already here: it is very urban, true, but just as hot and humid as might be needed. Forgetting our worries about climate change – in spite of their justification – in this world of images we are simply playing with design.
To introduce you to our latest new trend, Wildfulness, we can imagine a very precise soundtrack: the Air on the G String by Johann Sebastian Bach, to have that extra pinch of authority brandished by many a televised nature documentary. Because our moodboard is a small zoo, worthy of the BBC.
The color we have chosen couldn’t help but be green, deployed in its most savage shades on both the fronts of our collage: on the one hand a covering with an uncontaminated landscape, and on the right, given the fact that this is clearly an interior, we have opted for an almost solid color for the base, with an intruder (or, more agreeably, a special guest) peeking out from another wallpaper on a virgin forest theme.
A wild backdrop of multiple layers where indoor and outdoor furnishings are present, totems that remind us of a tribal past revisited with a touch of glamour, and a bit of native fauna tamed by the pencil of the designer. But watch out: what we are offering is not a travel destination… fantasy permits no geolocation, not even the kind provided by Google Maps. So now it’s time to raise the curtain, two narrate the details of these two complementary worlds.
Outdoor (left)
This dreamy wallpaper couldn’t help but be called Eden, a landscape inhabited by butterflies and peacocks, imagined by Sara Ricciardi for the Camere collection by Texurae.
Nobody, not even us (its creators), knows the location of this enchanted world. But for the most curious of all, we have a clue that should not be underestimated: the cot designed by Marco Lavit for Ethimo is called Hut, precisely like an Indian shelter.
To get our bearings in the thick vegetation, we have bet on a row of lamps from the Cordea Outdoor line designed by Favaretto&Partners for Masiero.
Our setting could rival any modern lodge: in front of the cot, a series of tables, from the right: the low teak garden stool from the Swing collection by Unopiù and the Heiko 42 in high-density polymer, finished with a layer of clay, designed by David Lopez Quincoces for Gervasoni.
On the right, the new Isole table in volcanic stone by Gordon Guillaumier for Minotti.
Behind the hut, we’ve spotted our first specimen: a rhino taking a walk with a koala bear on its horn. The piece is titled LOVE and it is a self-produced creation by Marcantonio.
On the coffee tables, since we haven’t found a photo of a Red Savanna cocktail made with Elephant Strength Gin (which also includes rare African ingredients), here’s the Steps vase by Pols Potten.
Indoor (right)
The walls of the home are also in need of lots of green: so we’ve selected the AH-32 wallpaper created by Affreschi & Affreschi, which with its 3D effect forms the basis for the second moodboard.
Just a simple backdrop wasn’t enough; we felt the need for a presence that would evoke nature. So we chose a wallpaper with a monkey peeking through giant leaves, namely Dark Tropical Wild Jungle by Wallpapers4Beginners.
Everything gravitates around the soft form of the Travertin Chubby console created by Arthur Vallin, an artist of Galerie Philia: a piece that with its theatrical presence becomes the fulcrum of the image.
Aria Totem, the marble sculpture by the Mexican artist Rebeca Cors, on sale at 1stdibs.com, is a tribal but classy touch, suggesting ancestral magic but with a modern perspective.
The main light is by Cassina, a suspension for outdoor use in blown glass from the Bollicosa Nautilus collection, which with that rope keeps the overall wild tone alive.
Perched with a jocular and ironic air, another primate forcefully enters the scene, a chimp in white biscuit porcelain with gilded teeth and details in Swarovski crystal. It’s CRA$Y with Swarovski® by Marcantonio, a limited edition of Villari.
To wrap things up, a citation for design buffs: the Capitol Complex created by Cassina as a tribute to Pierre Jeanneret, designer of the furnishings of the Capitol Complex of the Indian city of Chandigarh.
