Salone 2017: The RE:CHARGE Café by Todd Bracher for Humanscale
Published
If you happen to be at this year’s Salone, why not stop by the Humanscale RE:CHARGE Café at Fuorisalone, a nature-inspired oasis that strives to physically and mentally re-energise visitors in a carefully curated and researched space.
For those of us in the design community who are making annual pilgrimage to Milan, design week is simultaneously a wonderland and a battlefield, and Italian cafes with excellent coffee are a godsend. Humanscale has taken it up a notch this year by taking over a local Milanese café for Fuorisalone and transforming it into the RE:CHARGE Café.
Promoting a harmonious blend of work and sociability, the RE:CHARGE Café is envisioned as a nature-inspired urban oasis that physically and mentally re-energise visitors.
“I’ve been visiting the Salone for nearly 20 years – jetlag, meetings, continuous exploring – puts a strain on one’s immune system,” says Todd Bracher, Acting Creative Director of Humanscale and the designer of the RE:CHARGE Café. “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.”
Some of these latest technologies and products are the Trea Chair, which mimics the instinctive recline of the human body, and the glare-free Vessel Light.
The RE:CHARGE Café concept is also inspired by ‘Engineered Nature’, a recent concept (identified and developed by London-based trend forecasting studio Franklin Till) which draws on humans’ inherent connection to the natural world and the health benefits of being exposed to nature.
“All of nature is beautiful, and at the same time all of nature is completely functional. 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,” says Bob King, CEO and Founder of Humanscale.
The RE: CHARGE café features a communal table with state-of-the-art charging stations outfitted with biological lighting, a healthy bar serving specialised drinks dubbed the ‘Green Shots’ for rejuvenation of body and mind, and an air-purifying wall designed by vertical agriculture specialists Vertical Field.
The RE:CHARGE Café opens at Via Solferino, 18 in the Brera district from 4 to 9 April 2017, serving breakfast, lunch, aperitivo and light dinner.
Related Articles
Events
A rollicking good story with Richards Stanisich and Royal Oak Floors
Jonathan Richards and Kirsten Stanisich discussed practice, design process and the business of running a studio at a live audience event hosted by Royal Oak Floors in Sydney.
Events
Indesign x Wilkhahn: Melbourne, where are you working?
Our latest collaboration saw a range of designers come together at Wilkhahn’s Melbourne showroom for a discussion on the workplace dynamics specific to the Victorian capital.
Events
“A journey into a whole new material world”: Plant Life at the NGV
Curator Ewan McEoin tells us about the NGV’s new exhibition on plant-based materials as alternatives to plastics, synthetic materials and other non-renewable resources.
Ideas
Beyond the panel: What makes a design event worth attending?
Ahead of Saturday Indesign, architects reflect on why smaller gatherings, unexpected voices, candid discussion and meaningful follow-up can make meeting in person genuinely worthwhile.