In our discussion of design this week, we’ve been trying to find a balance between sustainability and stuff. When executed properly, sustainable design can both enrich our lives by providing form and function while being created and produced with smart, green, future-looking materials, and it’s harder than it sounds. One company, though, has managed to hit many of the concepts we mentioned this week with a variety of their products. They’re called MioCulture [www.mioculture.com].
Founded by the Salm brothers (Isaac, the numbers guy and Jaime, the design guy) and better known by some as “MIO,” their objective is to combining business rigor with environmentally and socially progressive design. Their four-pronged philosophy (Green = Desire; People = Culture; Context = Relevance; Awareness = Intelligence) combines addressing holistic needs and wants with the idea that accessible design is the result of everyday life informing the creative process to create products that address every stage of their lifecycle provide customers with built-in environmental choices and functional benefits. A few of their products stand out to us; TreeHugger is huge fans of their various wallpapers made from 100% post and pre-consumer waste paper. V2 [www.mioculture.com], Flow [www.mioculture.com] and Acoustic Weave [www.mioculture.com] (from left to right, above — see TreeHugger’s coverage of them here [www.treehugger.com] andhere [www.treehugger.com]) all have dimension and add texture to a room’s walls; they’re modular, enabling easy replacement or sectional installation, and are all made from locally-sourced materials. Paint ‘em, varnish ‘em or leave ‘em alone; they provide a solid canvas for you to be creative, but can stand alone as design objects, too.
MIO’s lighting [www.mioculture.com] also fulfills many of our desirables for design; “Bendant” (above left — we peeked at it here [www.treehugger.com]) is a flat-packed chandelier (you’ve probably never seen those words together before, right?) made from laser-cut steel. The size of the lamp, shape of the cuts and flat packaging are a result of material and manufacturing efficiencies. In addition, the lamp welcomes the user as co-designer; you decide the final configuration of the fixture, making each different one a unique, customizable experience. Both “Shroom” and “Capsule” are manufactured by one of the last remaining millineries in the United States, using traditional felt molding technologies. Thanks to this, the design encourages further efficiency requires the use of compact fluorescent light bulb — the heat from an incandescent will eventually “melt” the shades.
MIO’s collection features other designs in a few different categories, with more, like seating and tables, promised soon. If the new products are anything like the old, they’ll keep us happily writing about MIO’s “sustainable design” for a long time. Learn more about them at their website [www.mioculture.com].
