TREND: New Public Spaces Where Art and Design Meet Nature and Wellness
Our 2021 trend “Spiritual and Numinous Moments in Architecture” argues that a new kind of architecture and design is rising: spaces that specifically aim to touch our soul and nurture our wellbeing—from an explosion in biophilic design to the revival of temples in everyday, unexpected places.
A clear, related and extremely welcome trend is happening all over the world: a surge in new public parks and spaces, where nature meets art and wellness.
The pandemic brought a huge new desire for the outdoors and nature, and it spurred cities to rethink their centuries-old landscapes: moving away from cars, pollution, and endless consumerism and retail to develop more green spaces and parks. In cities, biophilic design and new multisensory experiences of nature are taking hold like never before—and they’re specifically incorporating art and wellness into the experience. The floating park Little Island just opened in NYC, a cultural and natural playground with 2.4 acres of greenery and free arts/cultural events. In July, The Tide opens in London on the Thames, a new public space that’s about interweaving nature with wellness and arts programming (more below). Paris has just decided to reimagine the Champs-Élysées, nixing most cars and touristy retail to create an “extraordinary garden” that will provide a green, inclusive and cultural space for Parisians’ wellbeing.
So many more artists are creating new public art “for the soul” that makes people reflect and pause, intensifies their connection with nature, or invites them to experience a meditative “wellness moment.” In Brooklyn, artist and MIT professor Ekene Ijeoma has created the “Breathing Pavilion,” a circle of illuminated columns that invites people to synch their breath to its shifting lights—for some public, meditative breathwork. Architecture studio MAD has created a lantern-like art installation in a Chinese tea field to bring a new spiritual emotion to an unusual place. Spaces that incite a new enlightened state can also be digital, like the art collective TeamLab’s new “sauna trance” space (a kind of sauna-art hybrid experience) on TikTok—part of their Supernature Phenomena project exploring out-of-the-ordinary experiences that can shake up people’s perception and consciousness.
The trend predicted that a new age of temples is coming (both faith-based and secular). One example is Studio Nicholas Burns’s new “The Chapel,” a beautiful temple in sculptural concrete nestled in the forests of Northern Portugal, reimagining what a space for meditation and quiet reflection could be. NYC’s Rubin Museum will soon unveil the Mandala Lab, an ambitious project (the design is based on the mandala) turning its entire third floor into a space for emotional and spiritual learning and healing.
So many trends in wellness are for wealthy people and locked behind gates. These new public spaces and experiences are free and radically inclusive: bringing nature, art and wellness to people out on the street. Our cities, towns and public spaces are being rethought for human wellbeing—and what could be better?
This is inspired by the “Spiritual and Numinous Moments in Architecture” trend in the 2021 Global Wellness Trends Report.
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