Stylepark Special: Health | STYLEPARK

HEALTH

How can architecture and design contribute to people's mental and physical health? How can design help to maintain each person's independence for as long as possible? And to what extent can the creative disciplines serve palliative care? In our special on the subject of health, we explore the topic from different angles and introduce you to concepts, prototypes, products and buildings.

With all senses

Prof Lesley Collier is a professor in occupational therapy with a focus on dementia, sensory processing and sensory integration. In this interview, she tells us what influence textiles have on cognitive impairment and how her research can be applied to the design of workspaces.

AWARD NOMINATION

Design inclusively

A chair that stands for responsibility, towards people as well as nature: With "RARE", the Kinnarps brand NC Nordic Care has developed a design that is thought of sustainably from the design to the realisation.

Quality interiors for everyone

Sylvia Leydecker is an interior designer and director of her own Cologne-based practice “100% interior”. Nanotechnology and health are her two central themes, which she has addressed in countless projects, publications and lectures. We talked with her about the opportunities and goals for designers as well as users.

Building to heal

"Hospital" architecture stands for economic, functional buildings that nobody would like to stay in longer than is absolutely necessary. Yet it has been scientifically proven that architecture can have a positive impact on the healing process. In a show running until January 21, 2024, the TUM Architecture Museum in Munich is presenting pioneering examples.

The Sum of Their Parts

How can holistic ergonomics help to optimize working conditions in a company, not to mention its bottom line? Kinnarps has the answer to this tricky question and offers sustainable strategies for the kind of design that has been thought through right down to the smallest details.

STYLEPARK WAGNER LIVING

Sitting healthy

The "D1" chair family by Stefan Diez for Wagner Living relieves the spinal discs with the Dondola joint, promotes back health and helps to improve concentration.

Designing Life

“Design for Democracy. Atmospheres for a better life” is the slogan the City of Frankfurt/Main and Rhine-Main region have adopted in a bid to become “World Design Capital 2026.” Prof. Matthias Wagner K, Director of Frankfurt’s Museum Angewandte Kunst, is heading the bid. He explains the concept behind it in this interview.

Impetus for change

Under the motto "Sustainable society – Design for a greater good", we recently awarded the Stylepark HfG Rundgangpreis for the first time. The winning project is "Connect" by Leon Felix Voss, which could optimise the current chain of medicines.

Blind Spot

Designer and professor Bitten Stetter is the head of research for the Trends & Identity programme at the Zurich University of the Arts. She is currently developing prototypes for products that can be used in palliative care. In this interview she talks about how she is working to break a social taboo and what benefits product design can have at the end of a person's life.

Light protection

Air cleaner and luminaire in one product: "Virlight" by Brust+Partner and Ruco Licht offers an alternative to standard air purification systems.

Light in the Fight Against Covid-19

In cooperation with the Institute for Tropical Diseases at the LMU Hospital in Munich and Technische Universität Munich Smart United GmbH has developed special equipment that uses UV-C light to knock out pathogens. The product will shortly be ready for the market.

Healing architecture

What will the hospital of tomorrow look like? We spoke to Hans Larsson and Alex Retegan from the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) on the impact of digitization, designing for robots, and developing more flexible typologies for a new architecture of healing.

Design as a tool

As a young graduate of the Design Academy Eindhoven, Paulien Nabben sees her task in the careful design of her environment in order to strengthen the well-being of all of us in this way. The designer is not only fascinated by the complexity of natural systems, she also wants to explore their behaviour and interactions.

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Ease of Light

Zumtobel has collaborated with Japanese corporation Nichia to develop the Spectrum technology based on the properties of natural light. The optimized lighting is both easy on the eyes and improves our wellbeing.

The human being in focus

With her office Nickl & Partner, Professor Christine Nickl-Weller builds hospitals, research facilities and nursing homes nationally and internationally. She explains why flexible floor plans are important and what urban planning and hospital construction have in common.

Light as a disinfectant

The new "Integralis" technology by Artemide eliminates pathogens on surfaces through lighting.

Fermob 2020: Coucou Gel

Fermob has developed a beautifully shaped dispenser for disinfectants.

A clean solution

conmoto founder Johannes Wagner is offering innovative hygiene solutions for public and commercial areas in the form of a new label - hygn.me.

That bit extra

Lorenz + Kaz like to shine a light on the niches of design. This also applies to their current project: mobile mini-apartments for self-determined living in old age. We spoke to Catharina Lorenz and Steffen Kaz in Milan to find out what they’ve got planned.

Leisure is a luxury

The spa resort The Retreat at Blue Lagoon Iceland in a lava field on the Reykjanes Peninsula takes luxurious comfort to a new level.

Healing trees

The forest fosters healing. Providing a retreat from everyday clinic life Snøhetta’s compact wood cabins have an unimpeded view of the undergrowth.

Movement at the touch of a button

Linak has developed a control element for height-adjustable desks aimed at preventing one-sided strain on the body. Its success is revealed in a current study.

Between worlds

Sergio Mannino Studio has designed a pharmacy in New York City that acts as an interface between offline and online business.

A good night’s sleep begins in the office

With “Pulse VTL”, Waldmann has developed a system for biodynamic lighting in the workplace that takes into account the latest findings from lighting and health research.

Instant sunlight

The "Komorebi" prototype luminaire imitates the poetry of sunlight in the middle of places where the sun never shines.

STYLEPARK TECHTEXTIL

When the spacesuit replaces the doctor

What is currently being developed for outer space and will soon also be used on Earth – is something that is right up the alley of Arnaud Runge, who researches high-tech textiles for medical applications for the European Space Agency. In our interview he gives us an idea of his work.

Live healthily – and really live

The bathroom of tomorrow will also involve healthcare. At the ISH Thomas Wagner spoke with Andreas Dornbracht about the new concept of the LifeSpa and general trends in the bathroom experience.

Healing light, less medication

Let there be light: The Charité Hospital in Berlin is currently conducting research into how the ambiance in a room affects patients’ recovery.

The Secret of Happy Cities

What kind of urban realm makes you feel good? Scientists have developed different methods to demonstrate the psychological impact of cities on their inhabitants.

A chair for 40 hours

We hardly spend as much time anywhere else as on our office chair, other than in bed that is. Only logical that the chair should help us sit comfortably and healthily. That goal may sound simple, but finding the right solution remains a challenge to this day.

From Wellville to Bad Nauheim: Make damn sure you enjoy yourself

While once we had spas, these days we have wellness temples. At these oases of wellbeing contemporary man sacrifices his vices on the altar of health. But as the author T.C. Boyle reveals he should not be too ill.