Find out how a return to nature has shaped Italian furniture specialist FLOU’s stylish new 2020 collection.

Inspired by the intelligence and aesthetics of nature, the Flou 2020 furniture collection finds harmony between organic shapes, natural materials, artisanal skills

A NATURAL HIGH: FLOU | News

Inspired by the intelligence and aesthetics of nature, the Flou 2020 furniture collection finds harmony between organic shapes, natural materials, artisanal skills

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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.


Today, true luxury can be found in a return to nature. 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.

Flou found a natural home for its new collection in Italy at a modern villa carefully designed to connect and immerse its inhabitants with the surrounding lush nature

A NATURAL HIGH: FLOU | News

Flou found a natural home for its new collection in Italy at a modern villa carefully designed to connect and immerse its inhabitants with the surrounding lush nature

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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.

Just like in nature, simplicity of form camouflages a clever design in Matteo Nunziati’s Gaudí bed which combines a wooden headboard and footboard, with a metal structure and soft textile upholstery

A NATURAL HIGH: FLOU | News

Just like in nature, simplicity of form camouflages a clever design in Matteo Nunziati’s Gaudí bed which combines a wooden headboard and footboard, with a metal structure and soft textile upholstery

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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.


A quest to find harmony between strength and softness, contrast and complements, indoor and outdoor can be seen across the Flou 2020 collection


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.

Echoing organic curves found in nature: the Jaipur bed with its woven wooden headboard and the Foglio nightstand, made of a single sheet of harmoniously ebbing metal

A NATURAL HIGH: FLOU | News

Echoing organic curves found in nature: the Jaipur bed with its woven wooden headboard and the Foglio nightstand, made of a single sheet of harmoniously ebbing metal

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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.

Both soft and structured, the modular Icon sofa balances elegant textile upholstery with slim aluminium metal feet, to achieve a lightweight, modern and inviting design

A NATURAL HIGH: FLOU | News

Both soft and structured, the modular Icon sofa balances elegant textile upholstery with slim aluminium metal feet, to achieve a lightweight, modern and inviting design

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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.

From waking at dawn to winding down dusk, at the modern villa Flou shows how architecture, furniture and design can mediate our relationship with nature and enhance our wellbeing

A NATURAL HIGH: FLOU | News

From waking at dawn to winding down dusk, at the modern villa Flou shows how architecture, furniture and design can mediate our relationship with nature and enhance our wellbeing

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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

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