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charging stations, vertical panels, back supports and armrests. Since they can be taken apart, tables and chairs may be configured in different positions, while the power outlets are located between the seat cushions and can be turned upwards for user comfort. Furthermore, panels may be inserted to separate zones and create more private spaces. Architecturally speaking, “You don’t have to put electricity points in the floor or in the walls. You don’t really need to fit out the space, because this becomes an island that can work for the whole team. And within that, you can make areas of quiet, intimate spaces where you can work or have a small group, or you can design it so that it faces outwards and have it much more like an open conversational area,” Jay Osgerby underscores. Soft Work has taken nearly two years to develop, which, Edward told us “is kind of fast for a project of that complexity, ‘cause there are a lot of elements to it. And we’re not finished. What you see now is part one. We’re already developing new elements for it.” Barber & Osgerby’s work is known for its strong relationship to current everyday activities: “We think it’s our job to make objects that accommodate the changes in society that we see. So, we’re always looking out for other opportunities or other places where you can see people fighting with objects to actually do their job, or to work or to learn. So there’s a plan of new products coming within this category that we’re developing,” the designers concluded. As a whole, Soft Work elements offer new possibilities for creating workstations in areas that are now being used for that purpose. A curved version has seats that face inward for group discussions or outward, to be more public. The aluminum bases are available in two finishes: polished aluminum and texturized black, while each of the five natural and synthetic upholstery fabrics comes in a broad array of colors: blues, greens, oranges, yellows, reds, grays and black. Last of all, table options are light and black oak veneer, soft light melamine and texturized black and white paint. With 25 varied accessories, the system can be put together to fit in formal offices, co-working centers, schools, cafés, lobbies, train stations, waiting rooms, restaurants and even residential areas.
PÁG. 40 DESIGN AND PERCEPTION With the idea that textiles can take something from nature to the artificial environments of workspaces, designer Joseph White created Taconic for Geiger, one of the firms in the Herman Miller group. Interview Greta Arcila, Chicago correspondent Interior designer Joseph White is currently Director of Workplace Strategy, Design and Management at Herman Miller. As such, he analyzes workspaces and recently designed a textile collection launched during the latest edition of NeoCon, where he told us in an interview: “I started to work for Herman Miller three and a half years ago. I am responsible for reviewing work experiences, understanding how they operate and breaking down their components to analyze what goes on, for example, with human behavior, with workspaces or with the
tools and objects used to do a job. Those are basically the three categories that have been changing over time depending on how society works and how design responds to those changes. My work has taught me a lot about the relationship between human behavior and its surroundings. Precisely that learning has been imprinted on the Taconic textile collection, including color theory and sensory studies to find out how we could use design to create better interactions with the environment. I think, in this sense, that textiles in particular play a major role.” Clearly, discussing working environments opens the conversation up to sensations. As human beings, we feel a strong relationship between our wellbeing and what the spaces we inhabit evoke in us. Joseph coincides with this, as he believes that through objects, colors and lighting, you can recall natural experiences, such as walking in the woods, despite being indoors. “Workplaces tend to be very static spaces, with uniform light, stable temperature, controlled ventilation, so our sensorial relationship with the environment is drastically restricted. In that sense, I think that as designers we have the opportunity to create more substantial sensory experiences centered on users and their wellbeing, something that has been done at Herman Miller for over eight decades. We recently learned that the brain is attracted by spaces in different ways and depending on its environment, it reacts differently to the task at hand. So, if you have a team responsible for developing an idea, well you know that their work should be fluid and their surroundings must respond to that need through color, lighting, furniture to create spaces for concentration or stimulation.” Specifically about Taconic, we asked the designer about the reason behind using certain colors and patterns: “The goal of course is to give designers the flexibility of combining colors to produce a broad variety of atmospheres. For example, according to some color theories, cold color palettes help people focus their attention on work and be more introspective, while warm colors tend to shape spaces for being sociable, something that can be functional for meetings since it increases the possibilities for positive interaction. So color is a tool for designers finding the kind of atmosphere they want to create.” In Taconic, Joseph went back to a personal connection he has to the northern Appalachian Mountains, abstracting in the textile pattern mountain trails, light and shadows reflected by the foliage of the trees and the colors painted by the days. The collection started to take shape on the loom in the designer’s personal studio in Brooklyn, NY, to subsequently seek out the association with Geiger and develop the five mediumscale patterns: Amenia, Dorset, Claremont, Foothills and Graphton presented in a wide range of colors and textile fiber combinations of high-quality wool, nylon, rayon and cotton. In conclusion, Joseph thinks that the collection helps users feel closer to nature: “It is unquestionably about taking the visual beauty of outdoor spaces to workplaces. My goal is that when someone observes the textiles, (s)he feels that natural version with his/her mind and thoughts. The space definitely helps people achieve wellbeing.”
PÁG. 44 DESIGN FOR WORK TODAY At the most recent edition of NeoCon and in collaboration with the PearsonLloyd studio, Andreu World presented the Rap sofa collection, making the statement that a work space does not necessarily involve a desk. Interview Greta Arcila, Chicago correspondent We chatted with Luke Pearson, one of the PearsonLloyd studio founders, about their recent collaboration with Andreu World, with whom they launched the Rap sofa collection. Luke told us how it came about. “For years we had wanted a collaboration with Andreu World, because they have products of truly unique beauty and quality. While they may seem quite simple, they tend to be complexly manufactured. As a designer, you see some of their solutions and realize that they are extremely accurate, as well as beautifully detailed. Five years ago, we introduced ourselves to the firm’s General Director Jesús Linares and simply showed our admiration and our work; the latter, we thought, we could do with them. We stayed in touch, and as a result, we started working with some ideas, and that’s how the Rap furniture system came to be.” The collection is made up of a series of sofas available as lounge chairs and two- and three-seat sofas. Beyond an esthetic concept, it is a collection of fine upholstery that provides functionality for relaxation or work. The seats are complemented with auxiliary tables that can be anchored to the sides or front legs of the sofas. Rap reflects the fact that work is not necessarily done at a desk, responding to its context at a time when furniture is a facilitator for an array of activities, helping with concentration or dialog among several users. For Rap, both firms applied their creative ingenuity to various materials, among them wood, metal, leather and various textiles, and the balance they reached is not, needless to say, happenstance. Regarding that, Luke Pearson told us: “One of the qualities of product design is knowing how to handle technology. It’s not only trying to make objects look or feel good. When designing furniture, however, it is about the materials, how they feel and how they look. We tried to use very simple, high quality and sensorial materials. That’s how we got them to function at a conscious and subconscious level. Working with materials is basically human. To us, it is how materials are used and how their possibilities are explored when detailing them. It’s like music: you have a finite number of notes but infinite possibilities for combining them and I like to think that even small changes can make something ordinary into something sublime. It’s fascinating.” Clearly, the way the London studio approaches a project is part of its development. How did they get to deal with each project with such a complete level of intuition? “We had to do some strategic work to realize what it was that we did in the studio, and we figured out that we work with a polarity. On the one hand, we rely on our know-how and on the other our intuition. Precisely the balance between the two helps us figure each project out. That’s what happened to us with Andreu World; to get