With so much more of our workday occurring in a digital world, Spark interviewed designer Patricia Urquiola to understand how the past year altered her perspective and design approach. Learn how the “new normal” played into the design of the 2021 virtual show place, House of Haworth.
“The House of Haworth shows the new items and products we have in a fresh way. I think digital has its limits—but it also has a very nice side with more creative freedom than often found in reality. We did our best to capture that freedom in this digital representation.”
Patricia Urquiola
Architect and Designer
The connection between the indoors and outdoors is where Patricia envisions people desire to go—using hybrid spaces for working, relaxing, brainstorming, and collaborating. Envisioning ideal workplaces that seamlessly incorporate nature, Patricia reminisced about her many visits to Haworth’s global headquarters in Holland, Michigan.
“The headquarters is an incredible building with floor-to-ceiling windows that face nature—where most of the people work with views of the landscape. You can freely see the seasons and the weather—the time evolving. All the furniture placed outdoors for moments of relaxation, coffee breaks, or casual networking take on an even more important role—they provide comfortable flex spaces that allow people to choose where to work throughout the day.”
To Patricia, nature holds profound value and connection to our past, present, and future. “It is something that is in all of us. It’s like our shadow. It’s an argument that is looking to the future and it is part of everything. Then, I think nature is also part of our culture. Nature binds—and also transcends—cultural needs and thoughts.” A connection to natural elements in space design can help improve mood, productivity, and enhance well-being.
Reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic and the many drastic changes it created, Haworth sought to design a space with considerations to how people felt, and what they learned, while spending more time at home. In recent months, the space we call home has been forced to meet different needs and take on new purposes—and the work from anywhere movement is playing a big role in what that means.
With Patricia’s home serving as a studio and a safe workplace for her team, she regularly challenges everyone to look beyond the confines of their four walls.
“I have a terrace garden on the rooftop and a little patio in our courtyard, which is not only for us, but for the whole building. In these shared spaces we learned how to be more linked to our neighbors. It is interesting because sometimes when we could work together, to be safe the team would spread out into the courtyard. While there, someone from another area of the building wandered over and became a model for a presentation. Then later, another neighbor asked to see some of our prototypes.”
Patricia noticed how well conversations and work flowed when supported by nature. “My house as a dormitory disappeared and became a laboratory of working in virtual ways. For example, in the mountains where I live, when it was not so cold like the spring months or early autumn, our mindset changed and we kept saying things like, ‘Let’s talk a moment, and then let’s go out on the rooftop and continue the conversation there.’” For Patricia, choosing to do work in outdoor spaces became vital to design.
In a nod to how much Haworth and its family of companies have evolved, Patricia says, “When I came to Haworth the first time, it was an office furniture company. I remember meeting with the Haworth family, the CEO, and the president. They all said, ‘We need you to apply your idea of empathy and design so that we can meld everything in a better way.’ I think we’re working on that and I am proud of how far we’ve all come.”
The melding of products from different brands within Haworth, in collaboration with Kohler, helped Patricia and her team select furniture, lighting, and materials to create the new House of Haworth virtual space. The design works to understand and show how the whole house—including the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and patio—support the way we live and work. “It’s the concept of enlarging and enhancing well-being, where working and living is a large part of the design perspective,” explains Patricia.
Wherever you are, you can explore the virtual House of Haworth designed by Patricia Urquiola and Studio Urquiola. From the kitchen to the home office—and even an outdoor pool and garden space—you’ll find the breadth of brands coordinated to design perfection.
