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MEANWHILEAT THE OFFICEHow do we work today, and where? Should we still consider relevant the now ambiguous definition of the office as a workplace? A decade ago, after a long period in which strict functionality reigned, office design was flooded by home-office furniture trends, occasioned by the fundamental need to restore to the environment the human touch and a warm, domestic connotation. Today, however, we know that the balance between these two visions lay in the synthesis of both. The best designs reflect spaces that are perceived and experienced in their entirety. Gone is the futile fight with ergonomic, acoustic, and visual issues. Office design is no longer confined to individual pieces of furniture. The focus is on creating work environments that promote communication and cooperation, inspire thinking, and help people stay healthy. From informal settings for meetings, to movement flows, to lighting and acoustic measurements, to the search for individual concentration. “There is no technical reason why offices are needed today”, claims Swiss designer Yves Béhar. “The reason why people still want to go to an office is to collaborate with others.”

A space for communicative solutions

PATRIZIA COGGIOLA

The Cologne offices of großgestalten, renovated in June 2014, reveal a space equipped for design-ing, communicating, conceptualising, and for con-centrating. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the company is focusing its activities on the development of communicative solutions for ar-chitecture, design, art, and culture. großgestalten understands design in an interdisciplinary sense: their spectrum of work ranges from orientation systems, graphical building design, and image mar-keting and campaigns, to print and screen designs. Their goal is always to consistently and credibly translate the client’s identity into communications. Tobias Groß, managing director, says: “Good office design, which also means the living space, always has something to do with the people who reside in it. Ideally, the space should be an expression of their personality and enhance their sense of iden-

tity and solidarity.” This archetypal workspace was part of Insight Cologne 2014, the event programme running in parallel with the Orgatec fair, aiming to provide different opportunities to discuss current office trends while touring some of the most amaz-ing new corporate offices in Cologne. Some 20 of-fices and facilities throughout the city opened their doors, granting exclusive insights into the work-world of the future, duly unveiling design ideas and innovative solutions. ‹

grossgestalten.de großgestalten office

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MATTEO RAGNIDesigner for Fantoni The Fantoni Group, founded by Achille Fantoni in 1882, is an Italian manufacturer of office furniture, partition and storage-wall systems, chipboard panels, melamine flooring, and sound-deadening panels. Hub is an office system created by Matteo Ragni that pro-motes informal communication, rearrangeable spaces, and interaction with people in various ways, to suit the occasion. “The Hub project arose from a real need to recreate a physical and mental space within a workplace inhab-ited by different people. A kind of wall-less box to fa-cilitate the osmotic dimension of relating to spaces and people. This relationship-oriented workstation can be personalised and rearranged to meet individual needs. It is the direct descendant of the Abitacolo that Bruno Munari first dreamt up to combine the wide-ranging activities in the day of an adolescent, and to map-out the time needed for each one: rest/play/study/relation-ships. In reference to a simple, large square table, the idea arose to create a ‘four-poster’ version, a mini-loft in which to work, rest, and feed on ideas, relationships, and good food; in a word, to live a space.” fantoni.itmatteoragni.comMatteo Ragni, photo © Max Rommel

CLAUDIO FELTRINCEO at Arper Arper’s approach has always attended to the notion of soft contract furniture, devising solutions that can best interpret today’s ways of living and working. “Technology has expanded the way we work, free-ing us from the strict impositions of time and space, and encouraging the search for new solutions for the workplace. The use of these technologies has increased exponentially over the last decade, making the needs of the current work landscape more dynamic with a demand for adaptable, mixed and shared spaces, and the increasingly imaginative, flexible, and responsive ways of using them. Spaces where we can concentrate and spaces where we can collaborate should be able to blend, ensuring privacy when needed and promoting visibility and interaction when a job requires it. Simi-larly, those who experience workspaces have changed. Most of all, we want environments that reflect who we are. We want our surroundings to go beyond function alone; we require spaces that support a holistic life. The idea behind Soft Tech is to offer adaptable products that provide natural comfort through hidden technol-ogy, so that they are visually lightweight. These ideas have found a concrete application in our new collec-tions: Kinesit, Catifa Sensit, and Parentesit.” arper.com

Catifa Sensit is an elegant, gestural chair that is equally well suited to the home as to the office, available in a normal or lounge version. The chair’s serene gesture lends quiet grace to contemporary, adaptable workspaces and meeting rooms.

Interaction, collaboration, and dialogue are key to a successful workflow. Just a handful of years ago, our way of working was so different. We are now faster, more efficient, more flexible. It is therefore no surprise that the demands on workspaces are higher. Hybrid and more flexible, they need to be ready to change and adapt to different functions, numbers of people, roles, ambiences. The boundaries between production work and management work are growing ever narrower, as are all hierarchies and roles. With research indicating that 70% of collaboration happens at a workstation, there’s clearly a need for arrangements that support interaction. Places of work must help people to customise their methods, tools, and connections.

The Connective Space

DAMN°47 magazine / OFFICE NEWS

CORjehs+laubCordia, the new swivel chair by COR, is designed by jehs+laub. The chair, designed for conference and office use, is addressed to re-fined spaces or conference rooms, lounges, and waiting zones, as well as to home offices or residential spaces. The complete product family consists of chairs, easy chairs, and matching side tables.cor.dejehs-laub.com

POLTRONA FRAUSatyendra PakhaléSatyendra Pakhalé designed the Assaya armchair as part of a design contest launched by Poltrona Frau to celebrate its centenary in 2012. Now the seat is finally in production. It’s a furniture element that answers to the new concept-inspired lifestyle in an increasingly connected world, where the boundary between home and the workplace is becoming less defined. An ottoman, coffee table, and lap-tray are integral parts of the project and invite sitting arrangements suited to formal or informal situations, for relaxing or working.poltronafrau.comsatyendra-pakhale.com