This April, Humanscale will bring an engaging and innovative RE:CHARGE Café concept to the Fuorisalone during Milan Design Week. The concept will offer much needed respite to design crowds who will spend the week avidly travelling the streets to see the vast range of design exhibitions, presentations, and events.
RE:CHARGE Café invites visitors to re-energize both physically and mentally - whilst promoting well-being through a carefully curated and researched space, educating and giving back to the design community. Humanscale's Acting Creative Director and Designer Todd Bracher, who is also behind some of the brand's most recent designs, including Trea Chair which mimics the instinctive recline of the human body and the glare-free Vessel Light - will transform a local Milanese café on Via Solferino into the RE:CHARGE Café concept.
RE:CHARGE Café will feature a communal table with custom, state of the art charging stations with built-in biological lighting and a lush green, air-purifying wall, made possible by the pioneering vertical agriculture specialists Vertical Field. Along with free Wi-Fi and a healthy bar offering specialised "Green Shots" for rejuvenation of body and mind, RE:CHARGE Café will support the harmonious blends of work, sociability, relaxation and recharge which are synonymous with the Humanscale brand.
The RE:CHARGE Café concept is also inspired by 'Engineered Nature,' a recent trend identified and developed by London-based trend forecasting studio Franklin Till, drawing on human's inherent connection to the natural world and the health benefits of being exposed to nature.
Humanscale have explored the science of biological lighting and its connection to wellness; following the circadian rhythms, this lighting represents a step forward for mental well-being and the impact on physical health - further demonstrating the brand's commitment to design innovation, health and wellness.
"Some think that great design is a balance between functionality and beauty, I don't believe this is the case. All of nature is beautiful, and at the same time all of nature is completely functional," commented Bob King, CEO and Founder of Humanscale. "This concept is core to the Humanscale brand and the inspiration for the RE:CHARGE Café in Milan, a space that embodies functionality, simplicity, and well-being, whilst at the same time is still very beautiful."
"Humanscale's commitment to health and wellness at work is the basis for this concept," Bracher added. "I've been visiting the Salone for nearly 20 years- jetlag, meetings, continuous exploring - puts strain on one's immune system. We are offering an environment that is designed to retune your body's clock and to provide an opportunity to experience some of the latest technologies and products we at Humanscale are exploring."
Photography: Tom Mannion