Exploring ideas that shape the places we work
Organizing a work space goes way back to the industrial revolution when managers were trying to find out how to make their workers more productive. Initially, the goal was to reduce injuries, but over the years we’ve learned that carefullyorganizing your work space can improve productivity (Resnick and Zanotti, 1998).
Unwired Ventures chats with Jeremy Neuner of NextSpace, Kevin Kelly of the GSA, and Collin Burry of Gensler on trends for the workplace, ways to attract and retain the most talented people, and inspiring spaces.
The intersection where generations meet and collaborate each day is the workplace, which companies need to foster and nourish to create this center of production. Perhaps yoga balls instead of regular chairs, individual employee-designed workstations, or integrated rich-media environments with music or video *won’t* be such a far-fetched office design in the future.
So I survived NeoCon 2011. My take this year was that I did not see any earthshaking new ideas or products or anything that was really new. Don’t get me wrong, there was some really cool stuff. But I felt like I had seen most of it before.
However, several trends emerged…
What exactly do we know about the future of the workplace? Sabret Flocos and Bob Fox, principles at FOX Architects, recently attended Worktech 11 in New York City. There — alongside more than 200 professionals from real estate, facilities, technology, architecture, design, and management — they joined in a forum to discuss the future of work, the workplace, technology, and innovation.
And here–â„¢s what they learned.
In the past few years, the green movement has grown from a small group of activists to a worldwide initiative. Members of the building…
The momentum and interest in coworking seems to be increasing, which is phenomenal for full-time freelancers like me who love the home office but regularly miss the social aspect of the office-office.
As part of that movement, coworking apps that connect people to desks (and people to people!) are making their debuts seemingly every month. And even though Washington, DC, is still working to define its coworking spaces for entrepreneurs in the region, I know that at least three coworking apps — LooseCubes, DeskTimeApp, and (the forthcoming) SharedDesks — can help me expand my network and get new ideas when I’m traveling.
Someone once told me that what you know is dependent upon where you are — if you want to know something you have to go to where the knowledge is. NeoCon is just that. The knowledge is in the air, you feel it, you see it, you hear it. You have to be there to experience it. It is intense. Your senses get bombarded.
I remember getting back from my first trip and thinking \”“what the hell just happened?–
So now that I–â„¢ve been to a few NeoCons, I thought I–â„¢d share some of my thoughts about those past events. Hopefully this article helps you get oriented BEFORE you land in Chicago.
With my new iPad2, I can spend hours just browsing the app store and choosing from the plethora of free apps made available for download.
Of course, I–â„¢ve been looking for great finds to share with our WDM readers and the wider A&D community, which is why I’m excited to have discovered two great apps by one of my favorite furniture manufacturers: Steelcase.
We frequently hear the term high-performance work space, and I think we are all seeing significant gains in efficiency as our office environments evolve.
Yet, measuring the performance of an alternative workspace today is a tricky business — especially given many of the new conventions in how we work, such as unassigned work spaces, telecommuting, distributed work, consulting, and outsourcing.
So, what does a “high-performance work space” really mean?
Not everyone gets to sit in 20+ amazing desk chairs in a 2-day period. But I did. And here’s what I discovered.
For all you iPhone/iPod touch/iPad-toting designers out there, here are a few apps you might consider for your next project.
