Well-being at work is not a privilege. It is an essential condition to work better, live better, create better.
It concerns mental health, physical comfort, the quality of relationships, the possibility of self-expression. It’s about people, every single day.But where do you start?
Sometimes, with an object.
The IUAV x Magnetica Design project: workplace well-being and sustainable design objects
This article tells the story of a special collection: 19 objects born from the collaboration between Magnetica Design and the students of the Product and Systemic Design course at the IUAV University of Venice.
A real design laboratory, where the theme of workplace well-being was addressed with concrete tools: recovered materials, industrial processes, and creative vision.
Not an academic exercise, but a project shared among business, university, and community—capable of transforming industrial scraps into resources to improve everyday life.
The Magnetica approach
The identity of Magnetica is built on three fundamental principles:
- Environment → developing products starting from recovered materials, reducing waste, promoting circularity in production
- Social → involving schools, institutions, collaborators, and communities in a shared creative ecosystem
- Governance → activating a responsible and inclusive network, where environmental sustainability also generates collective well-being
The brief: designing well-being, for real
The students did not work on a theoretical exercise but on a real challenge:
How can workplace well-being be improved through tangible objects made with metal scraps?
Two key constraints:
- Objects designed to support and improve everyday working life
- Production achievable exclusively using industrial metal scraps
The result is a collection that combines ethics and functionality. Projects that speak of care, attention, and beauty. And that demonstrate how upcycling can also become a high-impact design gesture.
Each object is designed to accompany those who work. Not as decoration, but as a tool for balance, organization, and focus.
19 sustainable design objects for better workspaces
- CHÖ – A device that guides breathing through tactile vibrations. Helps regain mental rhythm.
- WAARM – Thermal wrist rest against computer stress. Ergonomic, can heat or cool.
- STILNESS – Tray for shared breaks. A simple gesture that strengthens relationships among colleagues.
- HYDRO – Desk hydroponic module. Brings nature, improves air quality, and enhances visual well-being.
- MODUL DESK – Modular steel organizer designed to optimize workspace.
- OPLO – Magnetic organizer for shared surfaces. Versatile, dynamic, and easy to reposition.
- NO-MO – Compact laptop stand. Lightweight and portable, ideal for working anywhere.
- GALLERY – Minimalist personal hand warmer. A gesture of comfort on cold days.
- SHIORI – Support inspired by the ritual of reading. Holds book, glasses, and phone neatly.
- OASI – Foldable sound-absorbing divider. Reduces noise and creates micro-privacy spaces.
- LUCIDI A SPECCHIO – System that modulates light with reflective surfaces. More visual comfort, less stress.
- COMPOSIZIONE ARANCIO – Aluminum modules to combine freely. Order and creativity meet.
- LAZO – Compact lamp with retractable cable. To light anywhere, with simplicity.
- ALAMÌ – Playful and functional cookbook stand. Also suitable for hybrid home-work spaces.
- MODULA – Modular trolley inspired by Meccano. For moving and organizing with versatility.
- ARNIA – Colorful magnetic organizer. Perfect for metal walls in offices or workshops.
- SAPO – Modular and dynamic seating. Encourages movement and stimulates interaction.
- JOLLY – Pocket-sized kit with desk tools. Practical, compact, magnetic.
- TACCA – Modular board for brainstorming. Physical, collaborative, adaptable.
The design process: from technical constraints to finished objects
Each project had to comply with precise technical limits:
- Defined weight limits
- Dimensions compatible with company containers
- Production carried out within the Formest workshop
The technologies employed:
- Intelligent nesting to optimize scraps
- CO₂ laser cutting
- Press bending
- Welding
Main materials: sheet metal in carbon steel, stainless steel, or aluminum
Secondary materials: glass, wood, felt, polycarbonate, technical fabrics, neoprene
Design that improves work, every day
These objects are not abstract concepts. They are prototypes designed for real professional environments: offices, coworking spaces, laboratories, schools, shared spaces, and hybrid contexts.
Some are intended for concentration, others for sociality, still others for mobility or relaxation. All are tools of well-being: adaptable, lightweight, and durable.
Working well is not a matter of occasional comfort, but of daily choices.
And when design is born from listening, responsibility, and collaboration, it becomes a tangible tool for collective well-being.
Well-being is designed. And built, together.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to the students of the Product and Systemic Design course at the IUAV University of Venice and the IUAV Foundation, for giving shape to a collection that is concrete and sensitive.
A special thanks to:
– Prof. Marco Zito
– Prof. Cesare Bizzotto
– Collaborators: Elia Venturini, Elia Maschio
Graphics
– Davide Bortoli
– Anita Striano
– Luca Pilot
The IUAV x Magnetica Design project was born from the collaboration between business, university, and design culture.
A real example of how well-being can be built through design.
Final call to action
Want to know more about the Magnetica Design collection?
Visit magneticadesign.it and discover a new way of living your work.
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