Knowledge can be increased and shared in many ways. Through workshops, lectures, free experimentation, or, as in this case, through conversation as an event format. What does it mean when design is inspired by urbanity, and what is an urban lifestyle? How do our urban landscapes influence us, and which design language can be considered “aesthetic”? These and other questions were explored in a panel discussion with Heiko Stahl (Senior Vice President, International Markets, Vitra), Markus Kaiser (Head of Product Management and Innovation Lab, Carl F. Bucherer), and Andy Wolf. At the launch of the new Manero watch collection from Carl F. Bucherer, we took a deep dive into the concept of “urban” and learned from each other’s expertise.
Carl F. Bucherer chose the On Labs in Zurich as the venue for the event. In the heart of an urban setting, On Campus is a contemporary and award-winning reference for outstanding architectural and interior design. In this environment, it was particularly fitting to discuss the topics of urbanity and aesthetics. This could already serve as evidence of how much our spatial surroundings influence our mood, behavior, and the way we think. We are inspired by what surrounds us, whether landscapes, buildings, objects, or other people and what they do. It is the overall atmosphere that either confines us or allows us to thrive. In this case, I was inspired by the location, the audience, and my conversation partners.
Andy Wolf guided us through the evening with his interview questions, opening the conversation with the central question: “Barbara, what is urban design?” Before addressing this, I wanted to first clarify the term. Our modern adjective “urban” comes from the Latin word “urbs” for city, which the ancient Romans always referred to as their Rome — the center of power, commerce, and education. After all, “all roads lead to Rome,” as evidenced by the ancient European road network. And there it is, the concept of what a city is: a densely populated area with significant influence and radiance, where people exchange knowledge and learn from each other. Rome is certainly not the oldest example of this. In Mesopotamia, between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers (today mostly in Iraq), some of the oldest human metropolises have been discovered. Cities like the mythical Uruk emerged 5,000 to 6,000 years ago. There, writing was invented — the ability to record information and share it with others. This is fundamental to the entire history of our culture. People not only created written symbols but also complex texts, ranging from accounting and legislation to stories and literature. By the way, people wrote on small clay tablets, the size of today’s mobile phones. Mobility was already key back then. Urban areas, therefore, benefited from individual ideas and skills, their exchange, and scalability, which directly manifested in design solutions. Cities are, in summary, primarily centers of creativity, knowledge exchange, and innovation. Heiko Stahl and I were in full agreement on this point.
Another point where Heiko and I shared the same view was the significance of workspaces for today’s world. Company offices and headquarters are also urban centers, micro-societies with all the associated aspects. But they are also situated within the broader context of the urban space in which companies choose to locate themselves in order to be close to their employees. Physical presence is still, or perhaps even more so in times of home office and “work from anywhere,” crucial. A company culture is essential to employee motivation and commitment, both on a small and large scale. A company is only as good as its people, because technology, artificial intelligence, and automation are still not autonomous, at least in this world. Heiko Stahl is well-versed in understanding the needs of workspaces, as his extensive career at Vitra has given him deep insight into company culture and office design. People don’t want to sit alone at home in front of a computer but are instead seeking personal interaction and collaboration, as Heiko mentioned. The office’s role is to make the company’s identity tangible and to address the experience quality of employees, as well as customers. Given the significant portion of our lives that we spend with and in “the company,” the design of these environments deserves special attention. It’s about well-being on the one hand, health and productivity on the other, and ultimately, the way we interact and define ourselves — in short, it’s about our culture. New work concepts are more than a trend — they are inseparable from today’s urban lifestyle.
Heiko Stahl discusses work environments and his experiences at Vitra.
The culture of the urban environment not only has societal or communal factors but also very personal ones. Personal taste and the things we create in our lives — in other words, design — also play a role. Design is shaped by urbanity, primarily because the majority of humanity has lived in cities since 2015, and this trend is rising. Our naturally artificial habitat is, in a way, the city. What urban lifestyle means was also the focus for Carl F. Bucherer. The new Manero collection can be seen as a response to the opening question of the talk: What is urban design, after all? The lifestyle of an urban audience, who live in a predominantly technical world surrounded by many digital gadgets and products, doesn’t immediately suggest automatic watch mechanisms. Or does it? Yes, because even though we often love our urban jungle, as biological beings, we are overwhelmed by too many options. There is hardly an object worn on the body as naturally as a pair of glasses or a watch, making it an everyday companion. Markus Kaiser, who heads the Innovation Lab at Carl F. Bucherer, introduced the art of watchmaking to the discussion. He explained the reduction and purity of an automatic object that doesn’t distract but fulfills its function: showing the time while aesthetically reflecting the urban environment, for example, with a striped dial that references slatted facades and architecture. So what is aesthetic? Doesn’t that lie in the eye of the beholder? “Of course!” I would say. The word aesthetic comes from the ancient Greek word Aistheisis, meaning perception. And everyone perceives and feels differently. This too is part of the urban lifestyle — thinking about diversity. Design must serve people and meet their needs. It’s only logical that urban-oriented design solutions should be created to benefit city dwellers and respond to their living environment. And as in this case, with less rather than more.
In conversation with Markus Kaiser.
Whenever the opportunity arises to have an in-depth conversation with experts — people who possess knowledge in both your own field and, especially, other disciplines — it should be taken. It’s no coincidence that one of the fundamental principles of Design Thinking is bringing interdisciplinary teams together to quickly and purposefully develop innovative ideas. In conversation, you’re under pressure to express your thoughts consistently and efficiently, which requires a certain clarity on the topic. I must be “literate” in what I pass on to others, meaning I have to understand it deeply enough to master it and be able to play with it. The prospect of a lecture and the concrete argumentative exchange, not to say a clash of ideas, motivates me immensely to structure my knowledge and constantly acquire new insights. Learning through Teaching is the motto here. But also, the spontaneous mutual inspiration in conversation. Our own thoughts evolve through input from other perspectives. Even simple follow-up questions can have an enormous impact. For example, when I’m asked “Why is this so?” it inspires and energizes me to explore the topic and gives me the opportunity to ask the counter-question, “What’s it like for you?” In this way, we not only see the world through our own eyes and prejudices, but we also gain insight into how others think. For me as a designer, conversation partners are immediately potential target audiences or knowledge carriers who expand my own horizon. By learning from others, we also expand our aesthetic capacities — that is, the way we perceive the world. And this inevitably reflects in the aesthetic expression of designers — how our creations and design solutions are perceived and understood by others. Not only is aesthetics as perception fueled by networking, but the classic concept of aesthetics as beauty benefits as well — and so do we all. Because more knowledge creates more aesthetics and makes the world, at least in the case of space-related design disciplines like ours, a more beautiful place. In this sense, #maketheworldmorebeautiful!
Dr. phil. Barbara Mutzbauer is the Creative Director at Aroma Creative, designing messages in and with spaces and developing emotional, multi-sensory experiences. She holds a PhD in Cultural Studies, focusing on the philosophical and aesthetic aspects of atmosphere in exhibitions. Barbara studied Interior Design and Ethnology, among other subjects. She shares her knowledge internally at Aroma through our training formats aCampus and aCademy. She is also a lecturer in Spatial Design Theory at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts — Design, Film, and Art, and teaches at the Zurich University of the Arts. She leads the “New Work Spaces” course at the ZHdK Summer School and teaches together with Mauro Testerini, Creative Director of Aroma Architecture, on work environments and company culture. Participation is still possible.
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