The design inspiration for this project stems from the image of a flower. The most beautiful parts of a flowerits bud and its petalsevoke softness, splendor, and refined aesthetics. Yet behind that beauty lies the slender stem, quietly bearing the entire weight of the structure.
Ever since I first read Janine Benyus's Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, I've descended into a rabbit hole in search of what " intelligence " really means (and who has it). Perhaps that's why I love the name of this newsletter so much. [It's a worm, after all. A humble, indispensable critter buried beneath the soil.] Benyus's central argument is that the "smartest" solutions to human problems already exist in nature. We just need to know where, and how, to look for them. (For instance: wind turbines inspired by humpback whales.)
Nature is often the go-to inspiration for design, but award-winning French designer and De La Espada Atelier take that idea and make it strikingly literal. Their limited-edition Ensemble collection doesn't just nod to the outdoors but borrows directly from its forms and silhouettes, reinterpreting them in wood, stone, and textiles. The result is the next best thing to being in the forest, only brought indoors.
"Inspired by nature's microstructures, this project journeys from the microscopic to the monumental. Structured into three chapters, the narrative explores a design methodology grounded in research, experimentation, and applied imagination."
