Trend Report: Tropical Modernism

Tropical modernism is a design movement that incorporates architecture, interior and outdoor design, materials, and plant design, to create a unique sense of tropical open plan modernism in your home. This design movement tends to focus on nature and sustainability while also taking design tips from modernism with a natural twist. The focus on sustainability makes it a popular and more conscious choice these days. This design approach is applicable in multiple regions around the world. Made most famous in places like Bali, there’s no reason your outdoor furniture Brisbane to Sydney, and Melbourne can’t join in on the movement.

The inspiration for this movement stems from regions across tropical climates in Asia. One of the prominent names in founders of tropical modernism is architect Geoffery Manning Bawa, a citizen of Sri lanka, a country famous for its sunbath beaches, hill stations, and tropical climate. It is one of the most appreciated design movements coming from the 20th century and still in use these days. It tends to focus on as much greenery as possible with palm trees as the main feature surrounding the building of a house. It also incorporates multiple water features inside and outside of the house to maintain the temperature of the building.

This design movement takes into account the temperature of the region and incorporates features like passive cooling and sustainable building that is more reliant on nature instead of man made means of cooling. It also tends to make use of more and more natural light inside the home, instead of incorporating plantations that tend to block the passage of natural light. 

Another key characteristic of tropical modernism is the use of natural materials as much as possible. Therefore, you will often see furniture and other items in an outdoor setting designed with respect to tropical modernism made of natural materials like timber and stone coupled with clean and natural finishes. These features make it eco-friendly and sustainable as compared to other design approaches. Thus the main reason behind the popularity of tropical modernism is its sustainable and renewable furniture.  

Another reason behind the popularity of tropical modernism is that it makes the outdoor spaces of houses feel like luxury tropical villas or resorts. Outdoor settings designed according to tropical modernism also tend to focus on open plan living that creates a seamless flow from indoors out. 

It also emphasizes a close connection between the interior of a home and the outdoors surrounding it. Therefore, it allows you to open up your interior to the outdoors as much as possible in order to maintain the temperature of indoors and keep it cool through cross ventilation. You can mimic tropical modernism in your outdoor space using a variety of water features like fountains and showers. This design approach is also applicable to apartments and patios with the possibility of vertical gardening and use of stones and portable water features. 

Koi ponds could be a great choice for your outdoors and indoors as well, when it comes to designing your living space according to tropical modernism. In addition to aesthetics and landscaping these water features also help in making the space cool thus ensuring sustainability, which is the key focus of this design movement.