Studying the design of workplaces comes from focusing on the methods of the business, nature of the business, various practices and work of the business…and then there’s the actual look at the individual’s who make up the work team and how best they perform their work in any given business environment.
It is NOT a cookie cutter process. I have been watching the morph of open-office design. Mid-century modern approaches adopted these grand, open landscape layouts and then the pendulum swung and private offices were the thing to attract employees. We’ve seen Mad Men replicate this era and it prompted a sexy nostalgia for social scene depicted as the workplace norm. 
The era and advantages provided by the privacy in those private offices…..
Attracting employees is an art unto itself. Extracting their productivity, once you have them is next. But what is certain as the pendulum swings again is that what has been in recent years the seeming popularity of the open, group work areas, the lack of privacy intended to generate collaborative productivity. And inasmuch as there are bonafide circumstances and business environments which nurture and benefit from this design approach, the pendulum left so many business practices and employees out of the equation for success.
At the start of 2012 Susan Cane wrote a book titled QUIET. It discusses her observations and interpretations of introverts versus extroverts. It address many aspects of what this distinction is all about and the environments that encourage and those that intimidate or hamper productivity. These observations addressed personal issues such as self esteem as part of the recipe for success. But this blog is concerned with the reasons for certain physical design approaches in the workplace.
The emphasis has seemed to be upon pitting the opposing personalities against each other and directly or indirectly favoring the bold and unreserved extrovert over the meek and quiet introvert but it is not about that, the real design picture and life picture should be greater than that as there are many personality types that make-up an effective workforce.
Steelcase has identified a Privacy Crisis. They have performed studies to better understand the design of the workplace in its many iterations. I recently took a continuing education class addressing this very point and it was so interesting to apply recent observations in my own collection of design projects presenting some of these very issues. A credit to Steelcase for bringing this to the fore but funny how the pendulum has swung once again. True that as one of the leaders in office and specifically systems furniture, they have had ulterior motives in studying what the next “trend” will be.
Semi-privacy….work…study??? Cost.
It’s good business to create things that will attract buyers and users but I found that some of the cool little pods that are new to their collection are more fun than practical and the rationalizing by the sales staff is often humorous in their attempt to make it relevant, desirable, and necessary.
I do like the idea when design has a good functional function – and yet I am frivolous enough to LOVE design for design’s sake…but when it is SUPPOSSED to function – it makes me crazy when it is primarily if not entirely frivolous!!!! Get that? Now the BEST is frivolous that REALLY FUNCTIONS…ponder those examples…I will after I finish this!!!
I regress…my point here is to recognize the need to establish the balance between the collaborative design of an open team-thinking workplace with the need for privacy to focus, regroup and refresh. And in the case of certain very productive individuals, just get their work done.
I have two examples that in my own practice brought these issues to the design table. One was an accounting firm where conversations with clients about their financial dealings warranted privacy. Having a client later walk through the office and realize that some of their own conversations might have occurred in open areas where privacy was not respected would be a poor business decision and poor business practice. The second example was similarly based around client’s financial planning and preferences at a non-profit organization. An open area where discussions of an intimate and personal nature might take place would not be appropriate. Although at first glance the attraction of a common area where employees could enjoy each other’s camaraderie and interaction, it did not benefit their productivity nor did it benefit the end result which was the confidentiality of the client’s financial planning.
So, sometimes it is the nature of the work to be done. Sometimes it is the enhancement and facility of the team effort. Sometimes it is the style of the employee doing the work and their best environment for productivity. In the last instance for individual’s personal style of private productivity there are many considerations of interfering distractions… whether it be noise – some enhances the working environment and other distracts terribly – or movement and peripheral activity, distractions come in many forms.
Good design will always be sensitive…sensitive to the object of the design (client and sub-clients as in employees), context of neighboring elements, applicability and efficacy of the design for its intended purpose.
One thing Susan Cain said stands out, “The secret to life is to put yourself in the right lighting.”
Selecting the interior furnishings and finishes for these edifices has always been similarly virtual. Until something is built and furnishing installed, the designs are all “virtual.”
Like reaching into a hole or looking into space, and not seeing the boundaries well. It s a brain thing. If the brain reads dark, it suggests a depth of space and therefore more than is really apparent. This is often used in ceiling treatments. Having a low ceiling appear higher, when painted dark, due to the illusion of depth.
Her lips, his costume, the children’s masks, a sunspot on a bus, the fighting ring ropes, structural elements in the arena are all so subliminal yet so vivid. Consistent and repeated use of the contrast with the bold red color in combination with turquoise is also a key element in this film.
measure. I followed B. A. Shapiro’s protagonist, Claire, as she navigated the mystery of a missing Degas. Set in a relatively small footprint of NYC, the story is one that could only effectively happen here in this city of superlatives. From the best of the beset to the worst of the worst and the enormous middle ground of mediocrity which again is superlative due to its sheer density of people, texture, concentration of multi-cultural influences, exceptional urban scenarios and unique prospects.
She is not forging as that would mean that the copies were intended to be marketed as, or represent, or be sold as though the original. Hers are legally sold as reproductions – until the plot thickens…Where a love interest, temptations of wealth and fame, innocent confusion and clever problem solving are woven between the past and the present and ultimately begs the question about the value of art – how is it established and when is it talent versus celebrity? The chicken and the egg thing or the Emperor’s New Clothes, either way,a mystery that boils down to what the market will bear.
A Red Like No Other – but unless I am on a roll, it might take me a while.
The rich maroons transitioning to corals and rosy tones into brilliant golds and even bright yellows were irresistible. It’s similar to a maple tree with its magnificent range of fall colors but with precious little round heart-shaped leaves. 
I created a tablescape using short-cut branches in a pair of squatty square glass vessels flanking a large square hand-blown glass platter. In the center on the platter, I gathered acorn squash which we will be enjoying baked with brown sugar and butter later this week, and added some ornamental gourds for their interesting shapes and colors. 
After scattering some of the leaves around the arrangement on the neutral linen table runner, the result was boldly colorful, organic and spicy scene bursting with autumnal warmth.
So as I pondered this setting this morning, two days later…the leaves on the table were getting crunchy, the branches were dropping leaves and the water in the containers was a bit cloudy…time to clean it up! Since it seems that everyone is already transitioning to Christmas themes, I thought why not do the same?! The alternative of merely cleaning it up and leaving it barren was a bit anticlimactic after enjoying the spectacular beauty of this recent holiday table. So here again nature was calling to venture forth and scour the yard for the next seasonal statement.
a few holly sprigs from the bushes in front and jammed them into the same freshly refilled square glass vases. In the center, the neutral linen runner remained and on the glass platter I kept the acorn squash, traded the gourds for electric green granny smith apples and a couple of pomegranates ( I had bought three last week and had already picked my way through the many juicy morsels of one – leaving two to do the red thing in my centerpiece today).
His women are a fine group of chicks named simply Hello Ladies as that is how they are collectively greeted daily. 
They represent the breeds Ameraucanas which produces the green/blue series, Buffs Orpington for peachy/light brown and Wyandotte for the darker orange brown shell shades. The combination is a color scheme that is so wonderfully balanced with complimentary opposites that it is one of pleasing perfection.
