The Design by Nature project has taken years of development by Swedish design studio Front. It is the first result of a research project in collaboration with More-So, the internal division of the Italian design company Moroso, created with the objective of enhancing research and experimentation as applied to furnishings design. Just like Maria Bruun’s collection and installation Reflected Surroundings, Design by Nature is presented at this week’s Design Miami/ Basel in Switzerland.
As recreations of fragments of wilderness, the objects appear like pieces of landscapes, moss-covered rocks, mounds, snowdrifts, and three-dimensional forms found in nature that suggest places for the human body to occupy.
— We wanted the pieces to create the feeling that someone had lifted a whole glade from a forest with a gigantic shovel and moved it to a home, says Sofia Lagerkvist, co-founder and partner of Front. Her co-founder and partner Anna Lindgren adds:
— We documented these places using different techniques, both high tech and traditional. We wanted to collect both the dimensions and physical properties, but also the experience and atmosphere of nature. There were lots of paintings and drawings, and we 3D-scanned entire areas in different natural settings and used those forms to create the pieces of furniture.
The textiles that cover these complex forms are an integral part of the works. Images from Front’s scanning process were digitally rebuilt and woven in tapestries customised to fit the three-dimensional furniture pieces. It will be like sitting in a three-dimensional painting or tapestry of a piece of nature.
The design approach behind the works pays close attention to nature, and the works build on research about the physical and mental health effects, as well as the cultural and psychological significance, of natural settings, especially in Front’s native Sweden. Another part of Design by Nature has been a study of structures built by animals. The project is an attempt to explore the creative interface between an organism and its surroundings.
— Many studies have proven that being close to nature has many therapeutic qualities and is good for personal and public health. The fundamental part of humans’ relations to their environment that we are interested in experimenting with, the duo says.
