Because of the “Millennials” (people born in the1980’s and 1990’s) the work place is changing. We are seeing a push towards a much more casual atmosphere. One of the most extreme changes to the office environment is the way Google runs its company. They have almost completely done away with the cubicle open office system and adopted a very casual very playful office design. Business meetings are conducted with everyone sitting in oversized bean bag chairs set in a semi- circle around a white board. In all of the pictures of the company’s office there are no long tables with neatly positioned chairs on both sides and the big boss’s chair at the end presiding over all the rest like we have seen in the past. This is because Google does not run their company that way. Although there are people in charge they are sharing the same work stations there is no hierarchy design layout to their offices. The company has plenty of spaces for the “googlers” (what Google calls their employees) to relax while they are at work. For example their Zurich office sports a game room with foosball and pool tables as well as a message center. Although Google may be an extreme case of a modern office we are seeing offices changing to a more relax less restricted design layout.
Although Google may be an extreme case of a fun relaxed hip modern office it does seem that office design is changing. Instead of long conference tables we will probably start seeing round ones where there is no head of the table everyone shares ideas and is equal to everyone at the table. Because of technology like laptops and netbooks there is less of a need for everyone to use a desk with a desktop computer. I believe we will absolutely see a push towards many companies designing sustainable offices like what Herman Miller has done with their company. Times are changing in with them so is design. As future designers it is our job to learn about the new products and new ideas for the millennial office environment.
(to view more from the website I chose these from click on the images)
Here is a list of sites I browsed on this topic if you would like to read more about this subject:
No comments:
Post a Comment