In the interview we discuss with Giulio Arnoldi, AD at Hw Style, on the central role nature and sustainability have assumed during Milano Design Week 2021.
Never before at supersalone and fuorisalone has there been such a high presence of plants and events dedicated to the outdoors.
Not a trend, but an indicator of a change in our lifestyles. The integration of greenery into the design comes from attention to people’s wellbeing. And thanks to the creativity of the designers, biophilic design can be applied in any field and on any scale.
For some years now, greenery and biophilia have been increasingly linked to design. Something has radically changed: in the past green was a complementary and decorative element, today it is an integral part of design and also of our life.
This is not a trend, but a real need; there is a different focus on user’s wellbeing and the awareness that plants and nature make us feel good, a knowledge amplified by the pandemic that has changed our lifestyles and our values.
Market demands have also changed: traditionally plants were added at the end of the project to embellish it, today they are already required in planning, green becomes part of the project as an architectural element, even in the workplace.
It is clear that the office should be a source of wellbeing and through green projects the workplace can become a more livable place.
Greenery stimulates designers who are exploring different dimensions and orientations: vegetal walls, vertical woods, plants suspended from the ceiling …
HW Style supports the creativity of designers and these new ways of introducing green into our living environments, looking for always new manufacturing techniques.
The events which HW Style participated in during the MDW applying green on different scales, are valid examples.
In terms of industrial design, Level was launched, a modular outdoor system designed by Progetto CMR that combines different elements and materials (concrete, wood, grit, plants, lighting) and allows you to furnish complete outdoor spaces with seating , tables, benches, small water pools and of course lots and lots of greenery.
The installation Let’s Break It Up!, by LAND (Andreas Kipar) in the forecourt of the Triennale Milano, speaks of green as a possibility of urban redevelopment.
An urban forest born from the rubble of a demolition; “A strong message of breaking the mold and the necessary paradigm changing towards the ecological transition where nature is put in the first place, free to take back its vital space!”, as the designer explains.
A symbolic space that evokes and anticipates the great LOC (Loreto Open Community) project, winner of the competition promoted by Reinventing Cities for the regeneration of Piazzale Loreto in Milan and the surrounding area.
