27/01/2019
RECOMMENDATION:
RETHINK THE WORKPLACE
Workplaces are changing: we work at home and we like to feel at home at work. This impacts furniture design as contract and domestic markets collide. Designers should have a role in that change. ~ref: xl salon 1-2
WORK:
1. NETWORKED
Arco - Cable sock by Jonathan Prestwich, 2011
In a networked society we are 24/7 connected, both at work and at home. For furniture companies it can be complicated to integrate technology, since the lifespans of furniture and technology are difficult to match.
Jorre van Ast, director of Arco: "Here you see a cable sock by John Prestwich that could transform your hundred years old kitchen table: a low tech solution for a high tech situation nowadays with laptops and communication devices."
2. DOMESTIC
Pearsonlloyd - Coat stand for Teknion, 2015
Coat stand for the contract market. The contract and domestic markets for furniture collide, and the office becomes more of a place to meet.
Luke Pearson: "Furniture is an important item, you spend most of your time working. People need a kind of home. A table for instance forms an intrinsic part in a human dialogue; we sit around it, it gives sense of position, space, separation, connection and privacy. The height, the width, the material... it immediately sets up a precedent about how you feel about a meeting and each other. That power is often underestimated."
3. NEW TYPOLOGIES (film)
Industrial Facility & Pearsonlloyd - talking about workspaces
Workplaces change, we work from home and are more flexible, there are pop-up offices and furniture that has to answer different needs.
Sam Hecht: "There has been a very fundamental change for offices and the concept of "what is the office?". You need different types of furniture for different use and context and different amounts of time. That is a very modern condition."
Luke Pearson: "We all think of the office and of the home but actually our loose, flexible interface with technology means that we can sort of be anywhere."
