“Home Sweet Work?”, “Life-Work”, “Working your Interior Life”, “For The New Work Day” …
After the low yet steady process towards a more “domestic” workplace, for a sort of reasonable reciprocity, now it’s the Office that enters our Home. It’s not just a matter of furniture design, but of visions and strong impressions, that are inspired by the new life-work styles they try to suit. Several companies have even used the concept of work-life balance as their own Manifesto.

A Home isn’t just the place where you love and feel safe, now, according to the new common meaning of “place where you live”, it accommodates the office, too: everybody knows that we work and have teleconference meetings at home…
Not accidentally, the workplace was also considered at the exhibition “Where Architects Live”: among the environments displayed by Francesca Molteni there are home-studio, too, like Studio Mumbai.
We saw companies, foreign as well, that appreciated the internationality of the Salone del Mobile and have displayed flexible liveable environments, not thinking in straight lines as regards private and common, leisure time and productive time. So, many writing tables for home office, but also actual office desks and chairs, sound absorbing panels and screens, perfectly attuned to the other pieces of home furniture.
Companies are discovering that the masterpieces of design are actually perfect for all rooms, at most you just change the colour of surfaces or fabrics (Offect, Vitra).
But the most interesting aspect is that the work-life balance concept may also become an explicit declaration of intent and suggest new modus operandi.
For instance, Lago with the motto “Interior Life”wants to transfer to workspaces all of the experience acquired through the design of life at home, building work spaces designed in terms of individual and collective wellness, efficiency of reason and emotional intuition”.
Estel with the question “Home Sweet Work?” want to open a debate about the Fusion of domestic and public space in its new magazine “The inner Edge” and at its stand at Salone, too (…the sculptural Niemeyer by Estel Office is a table or a desk?).
Arper with its pay-off “Life-Work” declaration of intent (will become Work-Life on the occasion of the next Orgatec) stresses “Home displays our personal taste and echoes our professional selves, a reflection of a like no longer divided between a job and a personal life, but rather an image of a complete person”.
Coalesse with the philosophy “For The New Work Day” explains that in the connected world, work and life are merged and its products are designed “to improve the quality at his highly fluid intersection” and are created “for the places where people want to feel inspired about their work day.”
Also “The Scandinative Workplace” by Kinnarps and Luca Nichetto at Pelota is a mix of elements and furniture to design spaces and routes that constantly change, “environments where it feels safe to take risks, but which also encourage playfulness and participation”, a space “where the user constantly finds himself in front of a new juncture, which, by its own nature, imposes a choice and, above all, it changes the perspective”.
The fair organizers might take their cue from these perspectives and this strong and spontaneous trend to reconsider the next exhibitions in a more fashionable and innovative way.
Interactive editorial by Renata Sias, editor WOW! Webmagazine.

Captions
1, Arper, Duna, design Lievore Altherr Molina, born 14 years ago, its iconic silhouette still sets it apart as a design classic, ripe for reinvention again and again. Now, new plastic shell fabrication in polypropylene.
2, Coalesse, Hosu, design Patricia Urquiola, convertible Work Lounge Chair or chaise-longue; at home or office it addresses the idea of relaxed work.
3, Lago, Air Table, extendable meeting or dining table.
4, Estel Office, Niemayer, sculptural masterpiece: table or desk?
5, Estel, e-Wall bookcase and Embrace Sofa, design Alberto Stella: domestic or public interior?
6, Skandiform (Kinnarps Group) Modulor, design by Claesson Koivisto Rune. Table or desk in different sizes (presented at The Scandinative Workplace, Pelota).
7, Vitra Aluminium Group by Charles and Ray Eames. Thanks to 26 new colours of Hopsak upholstery fabric, these models can be used to create attractively coordinated furniture compositions in home as well as office meeting areas.
8, Caimi, Pli, design Marc Sadler, nomadic soud absorbing screen based on Snowsound technology, to improve acoustic comfort in public and private environments.
9, Bernotat & C, Doppeldecker, a working-dinning table that provides two levels: one for working and one for relaxing. When working time is over, just close the lid and hide all the clutter of work in an instant (presented at Fuorisalone Lambrate Ventura).