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OUT OF OFFICE
Nº126 JAN — FEB 2019
FRAME 126
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46 14 OBJECTS
Open-source construction, digital showrooms, intuitive design
30 ROCA
Sustainable solutions for tomorrow’s bathrooms
32 THE CHALLENGE
Five alternatives to the open-plan office
44 PORTRAITS
52 INTERFACE Neighbourhood-like offices 54 ALBERTO CAIOLA Past + Future = Present
Antonio Campanella
46 PAOLA NAVONE ‘People don’t escape through design any more’
62 OS ∆ OOS Different every day
72 ALICJA KWADE Shape Shifter
Dirk Weiblen
64 DONG-PING WONG From Family to Food
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Future More Studio
Contents
5
the show
sensational exceptional original
8. – 12. 2. 2019
The outstanding diversity of the international consumer goods market. The experience of innovations and visions in Contract Business. The trade fair that leads your industry into the future. Information and tickets: ambiente.messefrankfurt.com
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FRAME 126
80 SPACES
88
From learning landscapes to data-driven healthcare
126 FLEXFORM
Staying physical in a digital age
130 FRAME LAB Work 132 The fight for the physical workplace 136 A new direction for the mobile office 142 Airlines invest in lounge life 148 Designing the digital meeting room 152 Microsoft holds an open house 156 The return of company accommodation
Courtesy of Layer
Ossip van Duivenbode
Ilya Ivanov
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160 REPORTS Office
Homey offices and fluid functionality
162 ANDREU WORLD
Multipurpose furniture
176 IN NUMBERS 146
Tim Teven’s Recycling Reject in facts and figures
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COLOPHON
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EDITORIAL For editorial inquiries, please e-mail frame@frameweb.com or call +31 20 4233 717 (ext 921). Editor in chief Robert Thiemann – RT Managing editor Floor Kuitert – FK Head of content Peter Maxwell – PM Editor Anouk Haegens – AH Web editor Rab Messina – RM Editor at large Tracey Ingram – TI Editorial intern Lauren Grace Morris – LGM Copy editors InOtherWords (D’Laine Camp, Donna de Vries-Hermansader) Design director Barbara Iwanicka Graphic designers Zoe Bar-Pereg Shadi Ekman Graphic-design intern Paulius Daunys Translation InOtherWords (Donna de Vries-Hermansader) Contributors to this issue Kirsten Geekie – KG Grant Gibson – GG Elizabeth Glickfeld – EG Shepherd Laughlin – SL Ana Martins – AM Shonquis Moreno – SM Maria Elena Oberti – MEO Debika Ray – DR Anna Sansom – AS Jane Szita – JS Angel Trinidad – AT Cover Background: Mulberry store by Faye Toogood (see page 82) Photo French + Tye, courtesy of Faye Toogood Foreground: The Fabricant for I.T Hong Kong (see page 18) Photo courtesy of The Fabricant Lithography Edward de Nijs Printing Grafisch Bedrijf Tuijtel Hardinxveld-Giessendam
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EDITORIAL
A plan to escape the open plan
I DON’T KNOW where you’re reading this text. But I can tell you where I’m writing it: in an office. Our office. I feel somewhat embarrassed as I type these words (on a laptop, fortunately, and not on an old-fashioned desktop PC). Because who’s still working in an office these days? No interior typology is subjected to intenser scrutiny than the office. Recent studies by Harvard, among others, discredit the open-plan layout. For years the proponents of open-plan workspaces believed that employees would collaborate more efficiently if they were in a large space without partitions. Undermining that idea is the current situation, in which colleagues email one another instead of engaging in face-to-face conversation. They also appear to be less productive. Good reasons for Frame to challenge a group of young designers to come up with alternatives. Beginning on page 32, you can find the (surprising) results. But no matter how avidly designers, researchers and employers seek to improve the office, today’s seemingly irreversible trend is to work, whenever possible, at home, somewhere in the city or while travelling. This tendency threatens to dilute the shared culture of companies, which is what ultimately distinguishes the traditional office from coffee bar and co: it represents in a physical way the norms and values of a specific organization, brand or institute. Approaching the Lab section of the issue you’re holding, we wondered whether we’d find other options for this particular facet of the office. Would we see signs of a more institutionalized way of working that recognizes our mobility as well as our place within a larger whole? The signs are evident, and technology is certainly part of the answer. A growing number of companies are utilizing VR to build an environment that brings people together – even when they don’t occupy the same physical space. Microsoft, on the other hand, relies not on technology but on so-called porous offices. Realizing that today’s employees are mobile, the company encourages them to work remotely on occasion to keep a fresh mind, while also opening its doors to freelancers and employees of other outfits. Back to our office in Amsterdam. Open plan. Lots of PCs. Not very porous. Ready for an overhaul, it seems. ROBERT THIEMANN Editor in chief
PARROT Portable Light Battery 10 – 100h Touch Control Smart Charge Height-Adjustable warmDIM tobiasgrau.com
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CONTRIBUTORS
David Goymer
ELIZABETH GLICKFELD is cofounder and editor of Dirty Furniture, an independent design magazine that examines the subject from the perspective of use. She studied critical writing at London’s Royal College of Art and has since written for publications including Eye, Frieze, Domus and Disegno. Glickfeld taught design history at Kingston University and co-curated exhibitions for London Design Festival and Clerkenwell Design Week. On page 148, she explores the potential of virtual and augmented reality in the workplace.
Niki Murphy
Writer and editor DEBIKA RAY is interested in global culture and its sociopolitical dimension. She has written for publications such as The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Sight & Sound, Wallpaper*, Icon, Disegno, Kinfolk, Metropolis and Blueprint, covering subjects that ranged from the shifting skyline of New Delhi to the nurturing of creative districts in China. Last year Ray founded Clove, a magazine about the culture of South Asia and the region's global diaspora. For this issue of Frame, she interviewed workplace strategist Despina Katsikakis on the future of the physical office (see p. 132).
Muhsin Akgun
Architecture and interior photographer KATIE BRICKER TESSARO is based in Atlanta, but her skills take her nationwide, shooting for architects, furniture manufacturers and interior designers. Utilizing her sales and marketing experience in the field of built environments, she helps her clients showcase their spaces and brings to life the intentions behind every design detail. An avid traveller, Tessaro is constantly expanding her knowledge of architecture during trips to the world’s most iconic structures. You can see through her lens on page 52.
Based in New York City, SHEPHERD LAUGHLIN is a strategist and writer whose work focuses on technology, culture and consumer insight. He has served as editor and consultant at J. Walter Thompson and The Future Laboratory; contributed to titles including CNN, Creative Review, Monocle and China Economic Review; and covered major events such as SXSW Interactive and Brand Week Istanbul. Shepherd spoke with Nike’s chief design officer, John Hoke. The results are on page 110.
THE NEXT SPACE A FESTIVAL OF INNOVATION
Speakers include Philippe Starck, Piero Lissoni, Didier Faustino, Humberto Campana, Hirotaka Tako (Sony Design Centre), Sakchin Bessette (Moment Factory), Anita Fontaine + Geoffrey Lillemon (Wieden & Kennedy), and Anny Wang (Wang & Sรถderstrรถm). Explore the next space. Get your tickets now. 20-21 FEBRUARY, 2019 WESTERGASFABRIEK, AMSTERDAM
frameawards.com/frame-lab
Jeppe Sørensen, courtesy of Bang & Olufsen
Technology gets INTUITIVE. Architecture goes OPEN-SOURCE. The true costs of DESIGN LABOUR emerge. Can DIGITAL CLOTHING save the planet? Is HYPER-CUSTOMIZATION going too far? Discover new directions in the world of products.
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OBJECTS
The DIGITAL SHOWROOM tackles overconsumption
PRODUCTION – In the early 2000s, retailers like H&M and Zara globalized, reinforcing the direction in which the industry was already heading – towards fast fashion, where polyester reigns supreme. Today, nearly two decades later, we’ve become far more aware that grabbing a €5 shirt from the rack probably isn’t planet-friendly and that we’re on the precipice of another shift: one that aims for sustainable solutions while acknowledging the inevitability of technology’s impact on the entire sector.
Spearheaded by Clement Balavoine and Janis Sne, New York City’s Neuro Studio is a digital fashion house and creative agency. Neuro makes exclusive items from its Solventus 2019 collection, but only after receiving a customer’s order. The result is a zero-waste system. To showcase its 3D-printed and laser-cut garments, Neuro Studio organized a VR campaign that included a runway and showroom, plus an AR fitting room for realtime customization and tailoring. neuro-studio.com
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Fortunately, sustainability and technology can work hand in hand. Every digital project has the potential to alleviate the fast-fashion crisis – by reducing hours of labour, shortening production time, promoting transparency and maximizing the possibility of customization. Among the couturiers of tomorrow are 3D scanners that can map bodily dimensions and calculate a client’s range of mobility. Retailers eager to be at the forefront of change need to evolve with their shops and showrooms. Do look at this evolution as a positive transition, though, because digital
technology can activate a space, physically and emotionally, and immerse visitors in a way that would be otherwise impossible. A common argument among the doubtful is that the tactile and visual experience of shopping will be lost if brick-and-mortar stores are forced to compete with digitization in the fashion industry. Nonetheless, both AR and VR have proved their worth in communicating sartorial artisanship and conjuring retail experiences in line with scenes from The Jetsons. – LGM
Courtesy of Neuro Studio
Courtesy of The Fabricant
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OBJECTS
I.T, a multi-brand fashion retailer in Hong Kong, collaborated with designers Amber Jae Slooten and Kerry Murphy on its 30th-anniversary project. Slooten and Murphy, founders of Amsterdam digital fashion house The Fabricant, contributed a 60-second film and 3D-rendered stills that illustrate entire collections, such as those by Alexander McQueen and Helmut Lang. No fashions are on display at I.T’s pop-up store, which connects online and offline shopping experiences. thefabricant.com
DIGITAL SHOWROOMS
Jimmy Herdberg
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Swedish fashion studio Atacac is the brainchild of Rickard Lindqvist and Jimmy Herdberg, who strive to change the way garments are designed, presented, sold and produced. Their Sharewear collection consists of digital garments that can be downloaded for free. Why? Cheekily, they say that if people are going to copy their clothing, it’s better if they do it right. The patterns evolve from a construction theory that is based on balance lines and certain key biomechanical points on the body. atacac.com
Geoffrey Lillemon and Anita Fontaine
Anita Fontaine and Geoffrey Lillemon from Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam’s Department of New Realities worked with Moncler to create a tactile lookbook for their Genius project that can be activated by augmented reality – enter the Moncler Genius AR Lens app. Garments designed by Pierpaolo Piccoli, Simone Rocha and others come alive in individual 3D multiverse, giving customers the opportunity to experience the clothes in a new dimension before buying them. wkams.com
Courtesy of Eli Block and Fahredin Kosumi
THE
OPEN PLAN 2.0 In the lead-up to each issue, Frame challenges emerging designers to answer a topical question with a future-forward concept. Recent studies by Harvard and the Auckland University of Technology undermine the open-plan office. Once championed as a facilitator of collaboration among employees, an unstructured environment has the opposite effect, according to experts who claim that open-plan workplaces impede interaction and lower productivity. Resurrecting the cubicle certainly can’t be the answer, so what are the alternatives? We asked five makers to share their ideas.
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THE CHALLENGE
Staged Office features a ceiling structure and floor rails that enable the addition and subtraction of various modules, such as privacy curtains, whiteboards, lighting, acoustic panels and furniture.
OPEN PLAN 2.0
Nº 1
Raise the Curtain Victor Moynier rejects the one-size-fits-all office in favour of a more ADAPTIVE LAYOUT.
Do we still need physical offices? VICTOR MOYNIER: In today’s context – think remote working and portable digital tools – I believe it’s crucial to have a physical, personal desk. It creates a base camp to which you can gravitate. On the other hand, visual and acoustic forces remain major drawbacks in bricks-and-mortar offices. Large open spaces counteract the comfort and intimacy required for concentration. Moreover, a one-size-fits-all plan lacks flexibility. Hence your idea for an adaptive system . . . The rhythm of work is shifting towards fast-paced microtasking, and current furnishing systems lack the versatility to keep up. At any given moment, an office might demand a completely different atmosphere: quiet and private for meetings, open and collaborative for brainstorming sessions, concentration-enabling for computer tasks.
My idea is to offer greater flexibility through an environment inspired by the backstage area of a theatre. In Staged Office, a ceiling structure and floor rails enable the addition and subtraction of various modules: privacy curtains, whiteboards, lighting, acoustic panels and furniture. Where would you likely find a Staged Office? I envision implementing my project in pre-existing structures. Nowadays, for example, a number of industrial buildings – spaces that were never intended to host
desks – are being converted into open-plan offices. My solution could serve as a tool to aid such conversions, as the structure could be integrated into the ceiling during renovation. By enhancing the freedom of the floor plan, Staged Office takes into account the potential for rapid changes in spatial requirements and personnel. How do users change the spatial configuration? It would be controlled by an app or basic software that’s specific to each office. You could book a particular layout in
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advance, perhaps for a Skype meeting or a presentation, or decide what you want on the spot. Staged Office could help to facilitate the increasing number of peripheral activities taking place in working environments. Sports and yoga classes could be accessed after hours, for instance, or the entire space could be reorganized to accommodate social activities. How would Staged Office change the users’ interpretation of space in general? Offering people a flexible structure allows them to
fully embrace the idea that time spent at the office is no longer solely about work. The idea promotes spontaneous and organic interactions. I want the office to become complex, almost like a maze in which people turn a corner into a warm, personal space. I also think it’s empowering for employees to play a role in the aesthetics of their office. – TI victormoynier.com
His deep understanding of manufacturing processes underpinned our choice of Swiss-based industrial designer and ÉCAL graduate Victor Moynier for ‘The Challenge’.
Antonio Campanella
PAOLA NAVONE imagines an object-free future. ALBERTO CAIOLA stirs up Asian fusion. ALICJA KWADE masters the art of illusion. DONG-PING WONG wins with weirdness. Meet the people. Get their perspectives.
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PORTRAITS
INTRODUCING
NewWave Space
Influenced by contradictions in the life of Shanghai, Italian creative ALBERTO CAIOLA incorporates ideas of past and future into hybrid designs. Words
TRACEY INGRAM
Portraits
OLIVIER HERO
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PORTRAITS 56
Dirk Weiblen
INTRODUCING
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ALBERTO ALBERTO CAIOLA grew up in Pordenone, an Italian province about an hour’s drive from Venice. In 2002 he began studying product design at Politecnico Milano, which he calls ‘a conservative, classical school’. While learning about design theory and the great masters, Caiola immersed himself in the ‘city that breathes design’. He and his comrades were frequent visitors to events and exhibitions. ‘We took everything the city had to offer, which was more than it offers today. Coming from a small town, I felt for the first time that I was part of the creative world.’ In 2006 Caiola ventured to Design Academy Eindhoven (DAE), where he chose Design in Context for his master’s degree. After returning to Italy and working for the likes of Aldo Cibic, the designer made a more drastic move. In 2010 he relocated to China, and in 2014 he officially established Alberto Caiola Studio in the country’s most populous city: Shanghai. Dedicated to interiors, exhibitions and product design, the outfit has since become synonymous with new-wave spaces. After learning a formal design language in your home country, how was your experience at DAE? ALBERTO CAIOLA: DAE was the radical exploratory school I was looking for. Finally, I thought, a place where you’re not meant to follow the rules; you’re meant to break them. I learned to be an author. We were taught methods, and our outcomes were research-based. They didn’t lead to final products back then, but I knew I would
Flask (opposite) is accessed via casual Thai eatery Tiger Bites (above). Including such dramatic elements as angular ceiling cubes, the speakeasy is the second in a series that ‘blends present and past through contrast’, says Caiola.
apply those methods later. I began to question conventions, search for new horizons and challenge the status quo. Inspiration appeared everywhere – even from my personal background. Whereas I previously might have viewed something from one direction, my vision changed to 360 degrees. What took you to Asia? I followed my girlfriend. She studied Chinese, so we thought we’d give the country a try. A project for the design fair [then called 100% Design] that was meant to last for seven weeks has continued for seven years.
to transform beautiful old buildings into museums, for example, while Beijing’s traditional hutongs are re-emerging as boutique hotels and retail stores. When I arrived, I feared the market would be too different – that satisfying a client’s taste would mean abandoning my own wishes. But that wasn’t the case. Design is more explorative here. Clients are looking for something extraordinary and are willing and able to invest in it. There’s an extreme energy and positivity in China that I don’t think you’ll find anywhere else in the world right now.
Italy has such a rich design tradition, unlike China, where buildings are often ripped out to make way for new ones. How do you find working in Shanghai as an Italian designer? Everything changes in a heartbeat here – including the attitude towards historical space. Architects in Shanghai are starting
How would you describe your design methodology, and how does it manifest in your projects? I don’t take myself too seriously. I try to have fun – and to pass that fun on to a project’s client and users. I’m questioning the current design landscape and searching for new visions. Recently I discovered a few »
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PORTRAITS
Caiola’s design for Harbook in Hangzhou – a bookstore-cum-café-cum-showroom – responds to the lack of city squares in the Chinese metropolis. The interior, which references an Italian urban landscape, re-creates the city-plaza atmosphere in an abstract way.
INTRODUCING
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PORTRAITS
After working for the likes of Aldo Cibic in Italy, Alberto Caiola moved to China, where he set up his studio in the country’s most populous city: Shanghai.
key phrases that sum up my work: ‘richness of meaning’, ‘unfamiliar combinations’, and ‘complexity and contradictions’. My practice is very much influenced by life in Shanghai. It’s a place of contradictions, with one foot in the past and the other in the future. I try to synthesize these ideas into my own recipes. Something I often hear about in the design world is the desire to make things homey, familiar. I don’t want people to feel at home in my projects; they should feel like they’re on the moon or on Mars. I want them to wonder, to have new experiences. ‘Good taste kills creativity’ is a line from a documentary I watched not long ago. The notion holds significance for me. My previous projects include a cocktail bar with an electricblue couch [Botanist, 2016]. The seating really clashes with the green environment. The client was initially against it; he couldn’t digest it because it was ‘weird’. Somehow, though, we made it happen. Same with my first solo project: Flask & The Press [2015]. The client asked for a 1920s vintage-vibe speakeasy. I felt that while a 1920s ambience might work, it’s a path already taken. If we’re going to bring back something from the past, why don’t we make it suitable for our time? The project blends the present and past through contrast. Traditional speakeasy cues are offset with dramatic elements, such as an array of angular ceiling cubes. Your Harbook project joins a series of newwave bookstores in China. If you’re trying to rethink a genre, how do you consider one that’s already in a process of reinvention? In China, everything seems a little bent towards the selfie story. Sometimes it gets a bit superficial. Exhibition curators understand this phenomenon and deliver eye candy.
People go just to take pictures, without engaging in the content or story that the artist is trying to convey. The resurgence of bookstores runs deeper. It shows that people are willing to delve into certain topics and learn more. I find it most interesting when retail is mixed with other concepts to create cultural and lifestyle destinations. City squares don’t really exist in Harbook’s location, Hangzhou, so these types of projects – places for people to meet and talk – fill that void. Harbook comprises a bookstore, a café and a Normann Copenhagen furniture showroom. By including influences from the Italian urban landscape – such as the covered archways that line plazas – I was able to re-create the city-square atmosphere in an abstract way. What ‘new waves’ are you currently exploring? Everything is moving towards fascinating hybrids – things that make you wonder what they are. Investigating this surrealist realm might be my new challenge, my new seed. We hear about X-gender and see luxury brands embracing streetwear. The world of possibilities seems wider than ever before. I’m quite comfortable in this new experimental context. ● albertocaiola.com
Inspired by architectural ruins, rooftop bar Nyx in Shanghai is wrapped in UV-reactive cords to create ‘a surreal space-time experience’.
INTRODUCING
‘I don’t want people to feel at home in my projects; they should feel like they’re on the moon or on Mars’
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Ossip van Duivenbode
DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT replaces the real deal in retail. Schools are starting to look like SILICON VALLEY START-UPS. Architects guide mourners through the GRIEVING PROCESS. Step inside the great indoors.
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SPACES
Ossip van Duivenbode
HOSPITALITY
Render or reality? MVRDV poses the question
INCHEON – To make a building reflect its site and surroundings, many architects rely on harmony, choosing a similar style and material palette to what’s already there. For an entertainment centre close to Seoul, MVRDV took the notion a tad more literally. True to its name, The Imprint features façades ‘imprinted’ with elements from adjacent buildings. The project comprises two venues: a 6,200-m2 nightclub and Wonderbox, a 3,600-m2 theme park and entertainment complex. Together they form part of a new tourist hub near Incheon International Airport. Because the internal programmes require no natural light, MVRDV ruled out windows – a move that transformed the façades into uninterrupted canvases. By mapping the exteriors with windows, doors and other details from the client’s nearby hotel and resort, Paradise City, the architects »
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SPACES
Instead of inserting standard doorframes or archways, MVRDV indicated The Imprint’s entrances by raising sections of the structures.
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Visitors enter the 6,200-m2 nightclub via a walkway composed of multimedia screens.
‘connected The Imprint with its neighbours’, says MVRDV principal and cofounder Winy Maas. Made from glass fibre-reinforced concrete panels, the two structures were painted predominantly white to throw the imprints into sharp relief. The entrance to the nightclub is the exception. Here, a sparkling golden skin calls out as a landmark to passing aeroplanes, while guiding on-ground visitors to the ‘doorway’. MVRDV’s task – ‘to design an interesting façade while offering only glimpses into the building’ – resulted in a playful boundary between interior and exterior. Instead of inserting standard doorframes or archways, the architects indicated entrances by raising sections of the structures as if they were flowing curtains, a link to the theatrical and illusory nature of the spaces within. Beyond the nightclub’s border, a walkway composed of multimedia screens awaits the visitor. These displays are reflected in the sinuous ceiling, providing a dramatic first encounter with the interior. The client has deemed the project a piece of art. Of special interest to Maas was maintaining the momentum for ‘entertainment to become art or for the building to become artistic. What, then, is the difference between architecture and art? The project plays with this idea.’ The architects wanted The Imprint to create a balance between ‘spectacle and calm simplicity’. Finding that equilibrium, they say, is the answer to entertainment architecture. – TI mvrdv.com
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Ilya Ivanov
Work
OUT OF OFFICE Whether they prefer the term ‘flexible’, ‘agile’ or ‘remote’, today’s business leaders and their employees understand that spending your nine-to-five in a fixed office space is no longer a logical choice. Indeed, recent research by Fuze found that 83 per cent of workers don't think they need a physical office to be productive. Where will we work in the future? Can the traditional office retain its relevance? And what happens when boundaries between home and work blur?
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WORK
‘If you can work from anywhere, why do you choose to go somewhere?’
Despite the shift towards agile working, DESPINA KATSIKAKIS believes the physical office still has a future. Words
DEBIKA RAY Portraits
ANDREW MEREDITH
FRAME LAB
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WORK
Katsikakis' latest project, pictured, is 22 Bishopsgate in London, a 62-story skyscraper designed as a vertical village.
FRAME LAB
IN AN ERA WHERE you can have a trans-Atlantic meeting from your sofa and businesses are increasingly built around a globally dispersed workforce, the idea of hundreds of people sitting in long rows in a single building seems redundant. Yet major office developments continue to spring up, showing that the corporate sector still sees value in physical workspaces, although not necessarily as we knew them before. As adviser to the likes of Google, Accenture and the BBC, Despina Katsikakis has been at the forefront of shaping the office of today. Now head of occupier business performance at Cushman & Wakefield, she outlines her vision for tomorrow. You’ve often referred to Herman Miller’s first product catalogue from 1948, which defined the ideal working environment as ‘a daytime living room’ that prioritizes people rather than the space itself. Have we achieved that goal? DESPINA KATSIKAKIS: I don’t think we have. The realization that commercial real estate is not about buildings but about people isn’t new, yet you see it in only a few enlightened organizations. But I do think that the historical focus on bricks and mortar is moving to the user experience. Two significant changes are driving this move. First, large companies have become much more reliant on agile, dispersed talent networks. Second, they all employ technology-based innovation, so suddenly everyone from banks and law firms to Google
‘The office has started to look more like an urban environment – more permeable, diverse and overlapping’
and Facebook is competing for the same talent. These factors are making businesses aware that the office is an important tool for attracting and retaining people. The casual, fun office – ping-pong tables and breakout areas – was largely pioneered by the tech sector. Is that ‘bubble’ model now outdated? A building is there to enable people to perform and to do their best work. A lot of these tech offices had a casual look because they were aiming for learning and collaboration. Unfortunately, many others simply picked visual references – let’s put a red table in the middle of the room – without thinking about whether such items were relevant to their businesses. I’m hoping the next generation of workplaces can begin to address the ‘why’. When advising on the design of 22 Bishopsgate, a building in the City of London, we asked ourselves this question: if you can work from anywhere, why do you choose to go somewhere? I think you choose to
go somewhere to feel inspired by the environment, to connect with others and to be in a place that supports your life. The concept was a vertical village designed to drive wider connections. High-rise buildings are very isolating places with lobbies that tend to be sterile. For 22 Bishopsgate, we wanted a building with a series of destinations that connect people through food, events and a climbing wall overlooking the City. If you’re in real estate, you’re in hospitality – what landlords need to provide are experiences, amenities and services that will support people’s lives and communities. Does the physical office of a company with a dispersed workforce take on an even greater role in maintaining company culture? The symbolic role of the office has changed. Historically, the office was hierarchical, and its function was about having power and control over what people did throughout the day. Today the symbolic focus of the office revolves around reflecting brand culture and value, and its function is to generate trust and community. Those two facets enable staff to work remotely, away from the office, in a way that’s effective for the business. That’s the piece that people often miss. Flexible working is a lot harder if employers don’t know their people and haven’t established trust. A good office design can be essential in building trust. Keep in mind, however, that flexibility does not always mean mobility. Is there a danger of neglecting the needs of those who oppose new ways of working? No. I think choice means the ability to choose whatever suits you. We are not all the same, but historically the office was designed for a single function and to espouse a hierarchical system. People need areas for both concentration and collaboration. In the future, we will increasingly use a network of fixed, flexible and on-demand spaces to suit our changing priorities. The ability to offer flexible working patterns, as well as an infrastructure to facilitate them, is becoming more and more important to large companies eager to attract the next generation of talent. It’s vital from the employer’s side, too. Looking ahead, I predict that every significant office building will have a degree of flexible space to allow for companies to grow and shrink as needed. Companies today often bring in large project teams that collaborate with them only temporarily. They don’t want to take out a lease on another space, but they do want to have those teams as closely integrated with their permanent staff as possible. If you’re in a building that offers ondemand flex, you’re already in a more robust position to meet modern business needs. How has the shift in working patterns altered the relationship between the office and the wider city? Over the past ten years, the city itself has been used as an office and, conversely, the office has started to look more like an urban environment – more permeable, diverse and overlapping. Great cities are surprising and exciting. We have an opportunity to activate the office in the same way, to think of it as a stage set that evolves and facilitates serendipitous encounters. The fact that many of us no longer need to commute to the city centre every day can be seen as a reason for reinvigorating local and regional high streets, as well as transport centres. The resulting community locations can accommodate workplaces. It’s something I suggested to one of our large banking clients years ago – that they could use the traditional retail bank as a touchdown point for their customers, in essence like a co-working environment. ● cushmanwakefield.com
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Courtesy of Fluvia
Office
Brands prepare for a POST-DESK world. FLEXIBLE FURNITURE helps foster community. ACOUSTIC SOLUTIONS beat distraction. Offices make us feel more AT HOME at work. Discover what’s driving the business of design.
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REPORTS
OPEN THE DOORS Including the GREAT OUTDOORS in work environments can wildly improve job satisfaction. A recent research poll, held by HR advisory firm The Future Workplace, painted a thoughtprovoking picture: among a group of 1,614 North American employees, the number-one determiner of workplace environment quality was access to outdoor views and natural light. Yet another survey, conducted by biophilic design expert Ambius, found that 35 per cent of the workforce spends no more than 15 minutes outdoors on an average workday. Access to greenery and fresh air trumped the importance of every other premium benefit, including on-site childcare and the presence of a cafeteria. Mid-day lethargy and sore joints are common side-effects of spending an entire day
inside, sitting at a computer. This undoubtedly has an enormous impact on mental clarity and workplace productivity – the surveys convey the idea that perhaps we should keep in mind that it was only after a raucous half hour on the playground that we were able to focus as young children in primary school. Our smartphones register and literally visualize the time we’ve spent looking at our screens – an amount that, for most, completely dwarfs the time spent on outdoor activities. Patio-inspired spaces in which to work and recreate are popping up in the office and in the open air, providing workers with both the necessary contact with the outdoors and a placeto connect with colleagues in a relaxed way. And so they should – it’s high time to start regarding the time we spend offline as just as advantageous to – if not our output in the workplace – our personal health and inner sanctity. – LGM
Kangshuo Tang, courtesy of Mat Office
In a quiet area of Beijing, an old office building needed to be remodelled to suit the needs of a 100-room youth apartment complex. Mat Office undertook the project of the tree courtyard, a design that introduces new residential functions for the tenants, creating a communal space that can be used for leisure or for work. matoffice.com
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Embracing a colourful palette and an array of material finishes, Kettal’s Office Pavilions are designed to create dynamic workspaces. The moveable walls give structure to large offices and provide the ability to change layouts according to spatial need, indoors and out. kettal.com
Courtesy of Kettal
To create a user-centred workplace, real estate technology company EDGE Technologies worked with the digital innovation house Epicenter to create a working community enabled by smart technology. At the Edge Olympic office in Amsterdam, the space is an open ecosystem that incorporates sustainable practices and rich biophilic design to create healthier spaces. The space itself has twice the amount of fresh air than required by building codes and circadian lighting. epicenteramsterdam.com edge-olympic.com
Courtesy of DVO
Inspired by the sinewy leaves of the eponymous plant, the Agave collection of tables and chairs by Mattia Albicini for Ethimo converts the style of the outdoors to that of the indoors, and vice versa. Solid teak is utilized to mimic the soft movements, thin profiles and silky surface of the agave, bringing a sophisticated outside atmosphere into the interior. ethimo.com
Italian company DVO recently presented The Future Office, a series of conceptual designs that propose new work alternatives. Their project Opposite is a portable office that can be taken outdoors. It is controlled by an app and can be closed and compacted when not in use. dvo.it