A NATURAL HIGH: FLOU

At some point, we thought we knew better, but nature had it right all along. Earth’s eco-system was designed to recycle materials leaving nothing to waste. We, on the other hand, thought plastic was the solution, we wanted things faster, more conveniently, and out of season – and then we wanted the luxury to dispose of it all easily.

It took us a while to get here, but today true luxury can be found in a return to nature. In being outside, slowing down, watching things grow, and experiencing the seasons. Architecture can help us with this. While it shelters us from the elements, it can also invite us into an elemental experience.

Living peacefully alongside nature has been the pursuit of many architects. Lina Bo Bardi’s ‘living architecture’ sought to combine local climate and materials with modernism. Geffrey Bawa was inspired by the ancient Sri Lankan temples carved into rock. Antoni Gaudí evoked the botanical curves of plants in buildings. Through whichever means, their aim was to help us feel closer to nature.

In Italy, a modern villa embedded into the hills of Bergamo, doesn’t mirror nature like Gaudí, instead, it creates a frame for us to experience nature through. The heaviness of concrete and metal helps us feel protected, yet the cantilevering volumes and walls of glazing place us directly within nature. The strong geometry of the house is unashamedly inspired by its natural surroundings.

Antoni Gaudí once said: ‘Mother Nature has always been my mentor, and the tree close to my studio my teacher.’ It was these words that influenced designer Matteo Nunziati when designing a bed for Italian furniture brand Flou’s 2020 collection. The collection of furniture by a group of designers takes nature’s wisdom as its central inspiration.

Nunziati’s Gaudí bed, named after the great Catalan architect, follows the organic curves found naturally in wood. Its hardwood frame is so sinuous, that it effortlessly harmonises with the upholstery it supports. Originally founded in 1978, Flou was an early pioneer of the upholstered bed, expertly weaving soft textiles with stronger materials such as wood and metal in natural synchronicity.

Many architects favour wood as a building material for this reason – it has the ability to express both softness and strength at once. It is sustainable and structurally strong, yet it also appeals to our senses. It develops a beautiful patina of colours with age and the touch of its grain can connect us directly to the environment. For example, the villa’s one wood-clad volume is robust enough to balance its concrete counterparts, yet also helps settle the building into its context.

Designer Carlo Colombo similarly experiments with the properties of wood with the Jaipur bed in the Flou collection. The headboard weaves thin panels of soft oak into a chequered pattern that feels both sculptural and sensual, like the organic shapes found in nature. It is also a macro view of the texture of upholstery, playing on Flou’s heritage of combining textile upholstery with wood to the result of creating furniture that protectively cocoons – with both strength and softness.

The organic ‘curve’ continues across the Flou collection – seen in the Foglio nightstand, made of a simple sheet of arched metal, or in the rounded edges of the modular Icon sofa, which lightly rests on its slim aluminium feet. The forms visually, as well as physically, advocate comfort, rest, wellness.

It is scientifically proven that nature uplifts us, and architecture helps mediate our relationship to the outdoors. At the villa, nature is always on view. Through glazed openings we can see the sun rising and setting, the seasons changing. Furniture can do the same, and the colour palette of the Flou collection connects us to nature with tones that echo nature itself – earthy ochres; the subtle blues of dawn to dusk; and black and white expressing light and shadow.

A quest to find harmony between strength and softness, contrast and complements, indoor and outdoor can be seen across the Flou 2020 collection. It is a quest truly inspired by nature to create a healthy, uplifting and comfortable living environment where one can feel balanced. Beyond the furniture pieces themselves, that bring good design together with quality materials, Flou shows us how a ‘trait d'union’ can be formed between design, architecture and nature, and understanding this, and how to live it, is key to our more sustainable future.

© Architonic