Plain Tiger Spotlight: Briiv
Bringing Meaning to the Art of Breathing
By Renee Fortune
Did you know that you have a right to clean, unpolluted air? If you didn’t, now you do. As of 2021, the United Nations General Assembly declared that all humans have the right to a healthy environment – including clean air, water and a stable climate. In light of the climate crisis, placing human rights at the centre of positive change is a particularly effective way of illustrating how imperative it is that the world, and industry as a whole, makes a few key fundamental changes.
The creators of Briiv believe that everyone, everywhere, should “care about air”. Because it’s an involuntary process, many people fall short of understanding how important breathing is to human existence. Our intake of air, the way we process air in our bodies, and the kind of air we breathe makes a significant difference to how we sleep, how much energy we have throughout the day, and the state of our cognitive functioning.
As the world’s most sustainable air purifier, Briiv brings a whole new meaning to what it means to ‘get some fresh air’. Before we dive into why Briiv’s construction is such a giant leap for sustainable product design, let’s take a moment to appreciate its unique aesthetic.
At first glance, it appears that Briiv is ahead of its time – an object belonging to a future reality. But there’s nothing science fiction about Briiv. It’s the perfect invention for this current era. It represents a shift from appreciating beauty because it’s something that makes us feel good, to appreciating beautiful objects that also have a beautiful purpose.
Briiv bottles the aesthetic of the natural environment, while also harnessing its unmatched ability to produce the very substance that keeps our hearts pumping. You could think of it as the futuristic version of the beloved household plant. It’s got everything there is to love about bringing nature into your home – a scientifically formulated layered design consisting of 90% natural and renewable fibres, housed in domed glass. It’s the desk accessory, coffee table feature, room focal point and living room conversation-starter you didn’t know you needed.
As its founders explain, Briiv was designed to “return to the earth.” Its structural components are made out of elephant grass-based bio-plastic, unlike most air purifiers which often use traditional plastics such as polypropylene and polystyrene for their housings. The bio-plastic that is used to make Briiv has the strength to last many years under normal use. It is however, also biodegradable and can be composted once no longer required.
Inside the domed structure you’ll find three natural fibre filters made out of moss, coconut and silk nanofibres. The air that is filtered through each layer and released into the space is as powerful as over 3000 medium-size houseplants. Before releasing the product to market, Briiv underwent rigorous scientific testing to measure the impact it had on improving air quality within real environments. It’s ‘nature with a touch of science”.
So far, Briiv has won multiple coveted product design awards and has been featured in some of the world’s most prominent media titles. Wired® Magazine called it “beautifully different.” ELLE Decoration called it “pleasingly green.” And Design Week described it as, “house plants without the hassle.”
Briiv is all these things and more. It’s a shining example of the kind of design innovation that will determine the next phase in the global journey of consumerism, in which function means a lot more than it did back in the days of our obsession with form.
As the team behind Briiv say, “we were fed up with sustainability being treated as an afterthought.” Together, they are on a mission to challenge the world to rethink some of our most basic needs and desires, as humans and ultimately, to reconnect with what matters most.
