Living Nature is Carlo Ratti's technological installation that aims to “reconnect man with nature” by interpreting interior living spaces through the four seasons. The pavilion will be on show in front of Palazzo Reale in Milan from 17 to 25 April
The spotlight of the 57th edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano this year falls on a subject of fundamental importance for the design thinking of today and tomorrow: the relationship between nature and the way we live, that is, how design, creativity and innovation can be integrated with nature and reconciled with respect for the environment, the management of energy consumption, and the use of sustainable materials and techniques.
The exhibition-installation Living Nature, the embodiment of this theme, is a pavilion-garden in which all four seasons of the year coexist simultaneously, made possible by an innovative energy management system for climate control. The project was commissioned by Salone del Mobile president Claudio Luti and designed by the architect and engineer from the prestigious MIT in Boston, Carlo Ratti, together with the inventor of the vertical garden Patrick Blanc. "The key idea," Ratti explains, "is to show people how nature can be integrated into our cities and our homes — a highly topical theme, and one in which Milan excels." The installation will be open to the public in front of Palazzo Reale in Milan, from 17 to 25 April 2018.
The pavilion has been conceived as a single 500-square-metre space, enclosing four natural and climatic microcosms that allow all four seasons to coexist at the same moment. The domestic spaces are connected to one another through a series of rooms and family areas, where kitchen-garden compositions and various design icon-objects further define and characterise the environments. Visitors to the pavilion can therefore move through spring, summer, autumn and winter within a single space, immersing themselves in the climatic and chromatic changes brought by the different seasons.
Inside the rooms, 23 different species of trees have been placed, standing 3 to 4 metres tall, symbolising the earth's yield and finding perfect temperature and light conditions according to their respective season. Each area features trees of very particular species from different corners of the world, including Japan, the Himalayas, Austria and China, as a tribute to the international standing of the Salone event.
Another key theme raised by "Living Nature" is sustainability: from a technical standpoint, altering the microclimate inside a structure presented a highly demanding technological challenge, one that led to the adoption of sustainable, cutting-edge solutions. The pavilion presents itself as a pilot project for better management of energy flows and the control of a series of microclimates balanced through work on internal temperatures and the amount of incoming light.
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"The structure of Living Nature, five metres tall, is covered by a responsive Crystal membrane, — Ratti explains — fitted with sensors capable of reacting to light conditions, allowing accurate regulation of the climatic conditions inside. A series of photovoltaic panels integrated into the roof direct heat inward in different directions, generating the clean energy the space requires. Batteries provide additional storage capacity to achieve high, steady peaks of energy production. The heat generated by the cooling of winter is then used to warm the summer zone through a sophisticated system of energy-flow compensation."
"Living Nature" represents the next chapter in a strand of CRA research with deep roots in the studio's past work in architecture and technology: first with the project for the Dehor Trussardi in front of the Teatro alla Scala, then with the "Green & Grey" exhibition in Toronto produced for EDIT Expo in September 2017, and finally with the masterplan for the transformation of the Milano Expo 2015 site into a Park for Science, Knowledge and Innovation, featuring a linear green mile as the neighbourhood's main mobility axis.
Here, then, is a new reflection on climate change and its impact on the conditions of urban living, but above all an invitation to the return of nature to the city. Through this event, the Salone del Mobile makes its contribution towards a re-greening — albeit a temporary one — of the city: the aim is to test how a space, whether domestic or urban, can become more human-scale by making use of natural resources in a sustainable way.