This interview is part of a series where ACAN Spain sits down with professionals that are moving the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry towards regenerative, circular and climate aware future.
On June 2, 2022, ACAN Spain sat down with Rachel Fowler, sustainable interior designer and author, to discuss what motivates her work, the link between sustainability and health, and her new book ‘My Happy Place – Healthy, Sustainable, and Human Design for Life and Work’ to discuss’.
Professional transformation and a journey towards being a sustainable designer
Rachel weaves many creative passions, diverse professional experience, and urgent themes through her work, creating synergies between health, art, and sustainability. Rachel worked for several years as a pediatric intensive care nurse when she took a photography course using traditional film which ignited a passion in how design can change our world to be more sustainable. From there, Rachel went back to design school and afterwards began working at an interior design house in Hamburg where she started to become frustrated with how the industry marketed expensive and unsustainable materials and products. She moved back to the UK where she started her own company designing biodegradable, eco-friendly, made to order wall-paper. Rachel now works between the UK and Germany, making wallpaper that is hand-drawn and hand-painted and reflects her love of the far east, specifically Japan.
Source: rachelfowlerinteriors.com/
Connecting education, health, and sustainable indesign through eco-friendly wallpaper
Rachel’s journey in designing her wallpaper began when she started thinking about how to create a material with a sustainable life cycle that could also improve people’s well-being. The project involved many hours of in-depth research determine where materials are coming from and what is used in the process to make them which wasn’t without challenges. ‘When I first started my wallpaper manufacturing I found there was plastic in everything. Then I went back to traditional paper. I also needed to make sure it did not contain bleach. But going back to traditional paper, how would the market respond to that?’ she asked. However, this return to the past can be challenging for some people ‘People don’t like to go backwards’.
A common theme in Rachel’s wallpaper is connecting back to nature through biophilic design which is something that many people crave. ‘Wallpaper theme is back to nature, over the last two years, more people want to connect with nature. They are fed up with being stuck in an office. Don’t want to be isolated in a cubicle with white walls.’ Rachel connected to where he is now and where she grew up as a child, an inspiring part of this reconnection to nature: ‘I grew up 5 minutes from the beach, I like surfing, walking, living in the city feels oppressive after a while’.
One of the biggest barriers in consumers taking up sustainable materials however is that clients lack general awareness because they are not involved in the design process in an educating way. ‘People often lack agency in choosing what materials are a part of their everyday lives and Rachel argues that it’s ‘about giving clients more of a choice and asking: what natural materials can you put in there?’
Check out more of Rachel’s wallpaper here
'My Happy Place – Healthy, Sustainable, and Human Design for Life and Work’
Rachel began writing her book during the pandemic after realizing how little information existed for people that wanted to buy sustainable, healthy everyday products. ‘University graduates know this stuff, but there needs to be more info for DIY stores and consumers’. Many consumers don’t have the resources and complete information on products is often missing. “When I first started my business in 2020, I worked with a mum’s group looking for vegan materials without fire retardant materials. Many people don’t know about the negative effects of materials. With a lot of research I found a company with cotton based, vegan materials but this took a lot of work to find.’
“Caring for planet, bodies, and health is a universal responsibility” - Rachel Fowler
Rachel’s book acts as a guide for anyone wanting to create healthy, humane and sustainable working and living spaces. A big question that confronted Rachel during the writing process was around the responsibility of the architect when it comes choosing building materials. ‘There is a lot of greenwashing, people trust labels which don’t tell the whole story (ex. So much plastic in paint).’ Rachel argues that architects have a responsibility to their clients and that creating healthy and sustainable design should be a right. While there is some positive work going on through projects such as 2050 Materials, and the Living Building Challenge, greenwashing and poor ecolabelling gets in the way of progress.
You can learn more about Rachel’s work at rachelfowlerinteriors.com and get a copy of her book at practicalinspiration.com/book/my-happy-place.
Rachel will be an active collaborator in ACAN Spain working groups & initiatives for Education for Climate Literacy as well as Nature & Regenerative Design.
Check out Rachel’s social media here:
Article written and edited by Nelson Nolan
Comments