Organic style: taking inspiration from nature in interiors

The New Raw design studio in Rotterdam, founded in 2015 by Panos Sakkas and Foteini Setaki with the ambition to give new life to waste materials through design, robots and craftsmanship, has created Stratum, an important sculptural furniture for the entrance to a new office building in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Inspired by geological stratifications, Stratum, 18 meters long, curves and unfolds in space, offering different views and perspectives as well as a variety of heights and widths designed for seating, receiving, cultivating plants or for use as a side table.

The pieces you design can be defined as organic both because they are made with recycled materials and for the lines inspired by those of nature: do you think that today's homes need this type of shape?

The New Raw: “In our work we try to merge functionality, sustainability and form.

We believe that organic forms and their sensory relationship with the human being are the basis of a high quality physical world.

The tactility and 'softness' stimulate the senses and create a feeling of calm that we increasingly need in our private spaces.”

How do you imagine the home for the next few years, what should we forget about design as we understand it today and what should we welcome instead?

The New Raw: “Homes and interiors should increasingly reflect principles of materiality, craftsmanship, sustainability and future-proof inclusion.

We should embrace locally made design, with responsible production for responsible consumption and start moving away from the imperative of mass production and easy consumption.”

As always, in addition to the suggestion to look to the future by taking full responsibility for this gesture, it is important to remember that the organic style is nothing new: today the intentions of those who began to express their values in his architecture, like Frank Lloyd Wright, or in his design, like Verner Panton with the Panton Chair of 1967.

Choosing to transform interiors with furnishings in an organic style means breaking the habit of orthogonal lines, which make the combination of furniture more intuitive, to venture into environments inhabited by small archipelagos that can live independently or converse with each other.

It may seem like a difficult step, but it is easy how this approach can be the most suitable for large families, for those who often host friends, for those who work and study at home.

Having small collections of seats, for example, which can be moved, brought closer or further apart, means having several points in a room where you can carry out different activities at the same time.

Just like a table top with a wavy profile, it offers the possibility of being used for different purposes, working or chatting, depending on where you sit.