Mirrors of reflection

Milan Design week allows designers and innovators in materials to wow the cognoscenti with creativity, and 3M™, the inventors of films, adhesives, tapes and thousands of other products for homes and businesses, went to Italy with a reflective idea. In partnership with Stefano Boeri Architetti, 3M Design installed Urban Tree Lounge to allow visitors prowling for great ideas to relax and enjoy a colorful view in material comfort.

Visitors recline on a mini landscape of curving seats constructed with 3M Nomad™ Matting. Immediately above on branches of metal tubing is a multicolor kaleidoscopic circle of “leaves” made of 3M Dichroic Film. The colors flutter in the breeze and present an ever-changing show in sunlight or shade. At the top of the tree, a flat canopy carved with organic curves and voids is covered in 3M Reflective Film, mirroring the lively leaf layer and the observer below. The lounge allows users to recharge their mobile devices while recharging their creative vitality. “We were able to achieve the goal of creating a conceptual tree that, like an organic one, absorbs, filters and mirrors the sunlight to create a shadow to reflect and recharge,” says Stefano Boeri, CEO of Stefano Boeri Architetti. “It’s my hope that this prototype can influence creative approach[es] to design in public spaces.”