Kukido is a floral composition that combines ethics and aesthetics. Designed by the Japanese studio Green Wise, these innovative arrangements have been chosen by Pianca for its showroom inside the world’s first Green Retail Park in Turin, Italy.
Kukido, the Way of the Stem, is a new approach to floral design conceived by Green Wise CEO, Yuichi Tamaru, to promote organic, local and seasonal cultivation of plants and flowers, together with a renewed respect for nature. It expresses itself through a floral arrangement where flower stems or branches of plants are in careful equilibrium: microarchitectures designed to emphasise the stem, showing off its natural form and beauty. All parts of the flowers are exposed, including the damaged and withered ones.
To Express Life as is, To Appreciate Nature’s Form, To Honor the Wild
These are the three principles on which Kukido is based.
These poetic, mini installations have been selected by Pianca, Italian furnishing complements and home living systems specialist, to add uniqueness and beauty to its new showroom at Green Pea – the world’s first Green Retail Park – opened on December 9 in Turin. Ethereal “Kukidos” by Green Wise transmit the wonder and magic of plants and flowers, eliminating barriers between the inside and outside.
Kukido is a novel design approach aiming to establish a symbiotic relationship with nature by creating a connection between people and flowers. The compositions, holding the floral elements in balance, transmit the wonder of naturally grown plants and their uniqueness and charm.
Green Wise setting for Pianca
Pianca, Veneto furnishing complements and home living systems specialist, chose Green Wise for its 150 sqm showroom at Green Pea. Selected to be a standard bearer for sustainable design, the company showcases the relationship between design, furnishings and sustainability, thanks to the poetic, green installations of Green Wise.
The work by Green Wise, that has found success in innovative, sustainable and holistic use of plants and flowers, combines beauty, poetry and nature. Green Wise devised and developed the Slow Green concept: a philosophy that celebrates the beauty of nature in its purest form using sustainable plants (organic, seasonal and local, cultivated without use of chemical products).
The Japanese design studio created floral designs with predominantly Kukido arrangements for the Pianca Flagship store at Green Pea. They guide visitors from the main entrance into the Pianca store and bring nature into the furniture displays, eliminating barriers between the inside and outside, transmitting the wonder and magic of plants and flowers.
All the plants used by Green Wise are grown in near-wild conditions, unlike most commercial flowers which are cultivated using large quantities of chemical products to extend their lifespan. Green Wise plants have curved stems and bend in different directions because they are exposed to the rain, buffeted by the wind and grow towards the sun. Their petals and leaves are marked with holes and scratches, proof that they have grown with their own energy, without use of pesticides or chemical fertilisers.
We chose Kukido arrangements because they are a symbolic representation of the values we share with Pianca,
states Yuichi Tamaru, Green Wise CEO.
“They represent elegant, understated taste, careful selection of materials and respect for the environment. Everything we do is based on the Slow Green principle, a movement that invites you to appreciate the natural form as it is, without forcing its life cycle or correcting imperfections. We are very pleased to be able to share our deep respect for the environment and our commitment to greater sustainability with Pianca, and we hope we are able to transmit these values to visitors to the Turin showroom.”
Yuichi Tamaru was born in 1965 in Tokyo and is CEO of Green Wise. Founded in Japan in 1905, over the course of one hundred years of activity Green Wise has grown to be recognised as a leading company in the green sector. In 2019 it inaugurated its first headquarters abroad, a showroom and design studio situated in the heart of the Brera district in Milan: here they propose new sustainable designs in line with Slow Green’s notion, a movement that aims to restore the diversity of the natural world together with a lifestyle that is in harmony with it. Slow Green is a movement that celebrates the beauty of nature in its purest form and promotes the use of flowers and plants cultivated in conditions similar to their natural environments, generally proposing a more sustainable lifestyle.
Pianca and commitment to sustainability
With a lifelong vocation for creating real settings, custom designed using timeless objects with distinctive yet not excessive style, Pianca is a family-run company with a long-standing tradition of working with wood. Caring for the environment starts with the choice of raw materials (only timber from certified forests with controlled logging), and traceability along the entire production chain, and continued efforts to improve manufacturing performance, reduce consumption and minimise waste.
Pianca has been using only compliant, fully-recyclable, eco-friendly packaging for years, produced using 90% recycled materials, with an electronic object-scanning system for maximum reduction in packaging. In 2011, the company installed a photovoltaic system capable of meeting the company’s total energy demand. 4,347 panels generate a 11 MWp power output for an overall capacity of more than 1 GW (1,150,000 KWh). Switching to solar power along with recycling processing waste to generate heat energy has allowed Pianca to reach the important milestone of relying on renewable energy 100%.
We have been furniture makers for 14 generations,
stated Antonia Pianca, the company’s Sustainability Manager.
“We inherited not only the art of working with wood, but also the passion for the material, respect and gratitude for the biodiversity that nature offers us. This is why we are committed to producing custom furniture that meets people’s desires and needs and also respects the planet. Joining Green Pea is another giant step forward for us in our commitment to striving for more sustainable manufacturing, for people and for the environment.”
Cristina Celestino: the new calatea green
The opening of Green Pea is also the perfect stage to unveil new Cristina Celestino’s project for Pianca: Calatea Green. The Italian designer entirely rethoughts Pianca’s Calatea armchair designed in 2017 according to the circular economy rules, with new materials and a distinctive aesthetics. Calatea Green is an homage to the planet and affirmation of Pianca’s commitment to the environment, right on the occasion of the company’s entry at Green Pea.
Calatea Green has organic roots whose design concept derives from both botany and ergonomics, and explores the outsize proportions of primitive, simple elements like leaves. Cristina Celestino’s homage to nature and sustainability is shown on a new decorative concept for the backrest fabric, paying tribute to her home region of Friuli Venezia Giulia (Italy) and the alder tree, a native hardwood of the Julian Alps, whose leaves have a distinctive, even-veined texture. The decorative motif was thus hand painted on fabric by Alberto Fiocco, who made Calatea Green a truly unique piece, born of a clever combination of art, craftsmanship and design.
Every element of Calatea Green was reconsidered to reduce the environmental impact of the chair. The padding is polyester ecofibre derived from recycled PET plastic mineral water bottles: made of 100% virgin polyester, it is completely recyclable and compostable, according to circular economy criteria. The shell is made of plywood and the legs are solid, FSC-certified® ash, sourced from certified forests with controlled logging to combat deforestation. Lastly, the upholstery fabric is made using open end cotton yarn from 100% recycled material guaranteed by GRS (Global Recycled Standard Certified 4.0) certification. Hand decorated using water-based colours with no toxic substances.
Green Wise
Green Wise was founded in Japan in 1905 and, over the course of one hundred years of activity, it has grown to be recognised as a leading company in the green sector. In 2019 it inaugurated its first headquarters abroad, a showroom and design studio situated in the heart of the Brera district in Milan: here they propose new sustainable designs in line with Slow Green’s notion, a movement that aims to restore the diversity of the natural world together with a lifestyle that is in harmony with it. Slow Green is a movement that celebrates the beauty of nature in its purest form and promotes the use of flowers and plants cultivated in conditions similar to their natural environments, generally proposing a more sustainable lifestyle.
Green Wise online >>
Photos: Andrea Martiradonna, Jasmina Martiradonna