Lee Fletcher tackles the gaps between commission and execution in product design.
put out the welcome mat
Summon your ultimate shower with a touch. With the intuitive design of digital controls, supreme power over water is now at your fingertips. Even Poseidon is impressed.
Whether you’re specifying carpet for a new office building or replacing resilient flooring in a school hallway, our Tailored by Tarkett flooring options make it easier than ever to transform your space. Find design inspiration, search product ideas, explore personalized flooring concepts and even co-create with one of our expert designers — all with our upgraded tools and services.
WORK Remote days are here to stay, but the office is hardly obsolete.
a hybrid model becomes the norm, designers are embracing the workplace as a locus
collaboration and shared experiences. By Stefan Novakovic
HANDLE WITH CARE Leveraging trauma-informed design in the workplace.
Judith Carlson
The products we make for the workplace need to be significantly better than they have been, and an expansion of the liminal space between a design brief being given and the design work beginning may help get us there. By Lee Fletcher
GOOD GOVERNANCE EMBODIED A new administration building gathers previously dispersed services into an accessible, community-friendly hub. By David Lasker
DESIGN Towards intrinsic value and the production of the “self” in relation to the other. By Michael Kaethler
COVER – Photo by Stacey Brandford PhotographyAtelier RZLBD’s house
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DesignAgency develops brand identity and space for the debut Las Vegas property from Carver Road Hospitality.
Burdifilek designs a multilevel shopping destination in the largest department store in South Korea’s capital.
Dupont Blouin design a new sales and event space for a Québec natural wine agency to showcase their wares.
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Despite claims that we are experiencing a post-pandemic return to normalcy, the world of work continues to change and where and how employees do that work is still in flux. While some companies have embraced hybrid or fully remote working models, others are calling employees back into their physical offices. These varied approaches to the future of the workplace create an interesting challenge for design ers: what should the office look like for those who want to come back?
“Leadership surveyed employees throughout the work-from-home period to gauge their interest in returning to a communal workspace. We know they weren’t alone in wondering if anyone would want to come back at all — this question has been a hot debate for many months now for so many companies,” says Amber Kingsnorth, prin cipal at Vancouver-based Mãk Interiors in reference to the Hootsuite headquarters project they worked on (and one of several new office projects featured in this issue). “What they discovered is that most of their team was interested in collaborative work and gathering in an office, while continuing to work from home for more solitary tasks.”
Hootsuite no doubt also discovered many employees express “avoid ing the commute” as the biggest benefit of working remotely: the out-of-pocket cost of working in an office goes up if you factor in commuting, lunches, coffees and after-work social activities. Employ ees want to want to return to the office, but it goes beyond just what the office will look like when they walk back through the doors. Life Works’ Mental Health Index for June showed an even split between work stressors and personal stressors, and the 26 per cent of Canadi ans that report work as their primary source of stress cite volume of work (25 per cent), performance demands (14 per cent) and lack of support (12 per cent) as the leading sources. Conversely, employees who felt supported by their employers during the pandemic reported the top two actions their employers took were offering flexibility (51 per cent) and promoting mental health services and resources (41 per cent).
We know that workplace environments play a significant role in sup porting collaborative thinking, creativity and innovation, but a suc cessful office re-launch will require more than just moving from a workstation-focused environment to a more varied workplace. Co lourful furniture and mural graphics alone can’t stem “great resigna tions” and “quiet quitting” in a corporate culture that isn’t taking work volume, recognition, well-being support and other factors seriously.
Peter Sobchak psobchak @canadianinteriors.com
This Land Amongst the diverse slate of exhibitions at this summer’s Design Miami/ Basel event was the Curio programme, a highlight of which was Stepping on Ukrainian soil, a presentation by Ukrainian-born designer Victoria Yakusha, founder of FAINA Gallery. Anchored by a handwoven, 2.5-m. tapestry titled Zemlia (Ukrainian for “earth”) with layered texture, deep black colour and long, umbilical-like strands representing “the primal connection of every Ukrainian to their soil,” the exhibit also included a series of primitive furniture in the shape of animals, each sculpted by hand.
Martin Spreer [email protected]
Faria Ahmed [email protected]
Steve Wilson [email protected]
A modest yet successful event, Portugal Home Week revealed the best of Portuguese home product design to the world.
Mime | GlammFire Founded in 2008, GlammFire has been turning heads at tradeshows with their statement-making fireplaces, such as this new addition which subverts geomet ric expectations of an outdoor fire pit, mixing straight and curved lines in black lacquered steel and brushed stainless steel plates with a brushed stainless steel combustion zone. www.glammfire.com
Boia | Flam & Luce An ode to Portuguese maritime culture, handmade macramé envelops a sandblasted glass globe topped with a solid ash handle, reminiscent of buoys seen bobbing on the side of boats docked in the ancient fishing village of Nazaré. Being wireless with built-in remotecontrolled LED module technology for variable colour and intensity make it practical for indoor and outdoor use. www. flametluceluminaires.com
Rigoles | Wewood Inspired by Brutalist architecture detailing often seen in fountains and stone gullies for water distribution, this new collection of coffee and side tables, designed by Pierre Dubourg and the second collaboration between the French designer and Portuguese manufacturer, is made of solid oak with brass detailing on the base. www.wewood.eu
Not Another Edition | Laskasas Every piece of furniture in the home is represented in this new collection, but the Porto-based brand has grander ambitions than just the home: each piece is named after a different region of the world – from Cairo to Montréal, Munique to Malé – with extremely subtle design cues referencing landmarks found at these locations, ranging from temples to historical buildings and plazas . www.laskasas.com
Annie | M+RE Contract One of the biggest makers of wooden chairs and tables in Portugal, M+RE (pronounced “More”) Contract showed off several of their popular lines such as Iris, Gemma and Annie (shown), all designed by Porto native Francisco Cardoso, and sharing similar qualities of extreme simplicity and solid manufacturing. www.morecontract.pt
Gravity Chaise Longue | Cobermaster An unmissable design motif that runs throughout their pieces is the robust grating pattern, like the grille of an old Buick Riviera. Prominent on their sideboard, bookcase, Moon table set and Gravity chaise longue, it challengers users to put their faith in the metalwork’s structural integrity. www.cobermasterconcept.com
Drawing upon more than 65 years experience, we take great pride in crafting products that satisfy the most discerning eye.
Pli | Allsteel A light- or alternativetask chair with a four-point seat suspension system that responds to users’ natural shifts in seated postures, as well as a backrest specifically engineered to reduce the perception of a rigid perimeter. Offered in task and stool height configurations with two arm styles, fixed and height adjustable, with five mesh back colours and four base/frame colours in nature-inspired neutral tones. www.allsteeloffice.com
Path | Humanscale This new task chair by Todd Bracher features the company’s proprietary FormSense Eco Knit, a mesh-like textile designed specifically for the chair that incorporates 22 pounds of recycled plastics, including 10 pounds of reclaimed ocean fishing net plastic. A new recliner mechanism uses the sitter’s weight and form to adjust without the need for complicated manual controls. www.humanscale.com
Compiled by Peter SobchakForsi | Keilhauer Designed by long-time collaborators EOOS and launched at NeoCon where it received a Gold Award in the Conference Room Furniture category, the name is a play-on-words derived from the ideal size of a productive meeting: four to six people. The chair is set at a working lounge height and the table comes in either lounge or traditional conference height: Keilhauer’s first product line to feature this height option, a nexus between conference room formality and lounge area relaxation. www.keilhauer.com
Workplaces are reopening with renewed purpose, and as such need smart solutions that are adaptable and flexible enough to cater to ever-changing post-COVID hybrid dynamics.
goods
Secure personal storage suitable for a shared workspace with unassigned seating or simply a smaller floorplan comes in a wide variety of column or cubicle configurations, finishes, and available with standard lock and pull, mechanical combination lock, and digital lock. www.enwork.com
Medium and Low Lockers | Teknion Available in a range of sizes and configurations that fit together to create boundaries between work areas and define spaces. A digital numeric keypad lock is standard, but they can be equipped with a variety of mechanical or digital locks which use a range of bolting technologies. www.teknion.com
Designed for durability in high-use areas where storage space can be shared such as healthcare, higher education and the workplace, they are made from ¼-inch thick tempered high clarity, low iron glass that can be back-painted in ultra-clear and pure custom colours, and soft-closing hinges to help reduce sound. www.hollman.com
Electrolite | ECA by Dekko Intended for the contract furniture industry, this portable power outlet has 360-degree capability thanks to reversible charging ports that enables a user to connect a Type-A cable without worrying about the plug or cable’s orientation. With 17 possible configurations, users can rotate outlets as well as the strain relief of cords exiting the back of the product (either straight or a 90-degree rotation). www.dekko.com
Umo | Stylex Accent tables don’t get much attention in office spaces, especially when competing with large benching systems or communal sofas, but they can be both handy and sculptural. Designer Brandon Walker juxtaposes curved shapes with angular cut-outs (hence the name: letters that resemble three arches and a circle). The portico-like arches inspired “by arches found in a de Chirico painting” says Walker add not only detail but aid in wire management. www.stylexseating.com
Ready Bench | Innovant Strongly minimalist in its design, this latest open plan sit/stand benching system developed in collaboration with Gensler features a cable management feature at the back that conceals cabling, power, and technology while co-functioning as a privacy panel that can be an accent colour or treated with fabric and PET felt. www.innovant.com
With patterns ranging from diamond geometrics to linear and gridded, the collection consists of eight running line styles (shown is Assimilate) in either two or four colourways and made from 100 percent New Zealand wool or wool with viscose. www.mannington commercial.com
Chromalis | Wolf-Gordon Designer Bradley L. Bowers digs into his toolkit of optical illusions on three upholstery textiles and one wallcovering. “I explored colour as the equalizer that creates perspec tive within a space, allowing pattern to add differentiation,” says Bowers. With Phantom (shown), he programmed algorithms to generate intersecting linework that creates the illusion of shape and depth from many angles. www.wolfgordon.com
Kick Start | Bentley Six new carpet styles in a palette of nine colours ranging from cool to warm and light to dark are available in the company’s Colorcast tool, which allow for colour matching from any source, including paint chips and fabric swatches. Additionally, orders of 1,500 square yards or less will be ready to ship within 10 days of order thanks to the Fast Track product offering. www.bentleymills.com
A reinterpretation of a classic shape, this new arm lamp from the two Italian brands is characterized by a tubular metal arm that bends back on itself, forming a circle reminiscent of a coil spring. 360° adjustability make it a fit for multifunctional spaces in public environments from workplace to hospitality settings. www.lodes.com
Launched at NeoCon, the whimsical curves of its foam body are inspired by the classic shape of a Pringles chip. Fitted with BuzziSol solo, trio, or quintet lights, the plush exterior absorbs sounds and can be customized in a range of fabrics and colours. www.buzzi.space/
Latis Collection | RBW Minimalist in profile but still packing reliable performance into RBW’s new optic platform, the lightweight linear fixtures snap into place, rotating and gliding into a range of compositions, scaling up to any dimension while delivering spatial coverage with lower wattage and fewer fixtures. www.rbw.com
After two years of remote working, the folks at Cossette were ready for some post-pandemic razzle-dazzle in their new Montréal office spaces. The answer: Club Cossette, a “third space” that is really more about expressing the marketing and communications agency’s brand than it is about complete practicality.
Starting with the metaphor of a brasserie as a working template, the design team of LAAB collective in collaboration with Signature De sign communication stripped down the brief to its essentials to focus on a simple and iconic figure of the “brewing” theme: the 24-pack aluminum beer can (actually a “tall boy” in its proportions). The re sulting 24 vertical mirror-like finish is inspired by brasserie restau rant mirror surfaces, and with programmable coloured pulsating lights magnify the liveliness of the social spaces.
The presence of this mysterious monolithic object in the centre of the room generates a layout of subspaces targeting specific uses: a “di nette” and “garden” located along the windows for working lunches; a relaxation space inhabited by ottomans on the north side; and “ter race” of Moderno sofas positioned in front of the conference rooms.
Attention-grabbing notwithstanding, the life-sized Two-Four does have some functional value as well: concealed sliding doors open to reveal a utilitarian space within, inspired by the “beer fridge” and cold storage room. The interiors are pristine white and equipped with shelves, fridges, and walls made of pegboard for the hanging of objects. The space takes on a retail showroom ap pearance and can serve as a visual display for the agency’s cam paigns, products, and brands.
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Remote days are here to stay, but the office is hardly obsolete. As a hybrid model becomes the norm, designers are embracing the workplace as a locus of collaboration and shared experiences.
By Stefan Novakovic
I start my mornings with coffee. Standing at the counter, I measure out and grind the beans, prepare the filter, and begin another day at the office. As I slowly pour hot water over the grounds, I look out through the kitchen window and wave hello. It’s 9:15 am, and DIA LOG’s Toronto studio is coming to life. As I prepare my coffee, peo ple are filing in, waving back at me as they settle into their desks. They’re all colleagues — but looking through the kitchen window during a daily ritual plays out like an intimate residential scene, I’m tempted to think of them as my neighbours.
It’s a feeling that permeates through the entirety of the 30,000-sq.-ft. space. Opened at the zenith of the COVID-19 pandemic, the inte grated design firm’s Toronto studio exemplifies an evolving paradigm for workplace design, combining the welcoming warmth and comfort of residential and hospitality settings with a flexibility that accom modates — and anticipates — an evolving hybrid work culture.
Situated on the fifth floor of the CBC Building in downtown Toronto, the studio’s front entry signals the sociable milieu ahead. Past an inti
Opposite In lieu of facing the door (and thereby imposing a barrier between the entrance and the rest of the studio), the more casual front desk offers an invitation inside, conveying visitors and employees alike into a communal salon/lobby and entry area that seamlessly doubles as an event space, with an elegant array of seating that spans the room. This spread Communal spaces like the kitchen, studio and break out nooks invite more dynamic collaboration and social interaction. Soothing textures accent the furnishings and the walls, lending the clean, airy space a pleasantly tactile presence.
areas. On the other side of the corridor, communal spaces like the kitchen, fabrication studio and material library invite more dynamic collaboration and social interaction.
But for my money, the kitchen steals the show. While the lobby is a public showpiece, the kitchen is the studio’s day-to-day heart. Framed by ample café-style banquette seating and anchored by an expansive island, the DIALOG kitchen is an everyday — and all-day — hub.
mate seating area that frames the front door, a multi-purpose reception desk sits perpendicular to the entrance, facing out to a generous lobby flanked by a pair of conference rooms, as well as smaller meeting spaces.
Led by interior designer and DIALOG partner Alison McNeil, the space deftly balances a wide range of uses and work styles. Comple mented by custom furnishings, the sliding glass doors of the adjoin ing conference rooms open up to expand into the lobby and accom modate a larger gathering. Bookended by the elongated reception desk (which doubles as a casual touchdown workstation) and a sec ond counter that, depending on the occasion, serves as anything from a speaker’s podium to a drinks station or a serving area for food.
“You can sit down on your first day at DIALOG, without knowing anybody there, and within the first 10 minutes you’ll strike up at least a couple of conversations,” says McNeil. She’s not exaggerating. On any given day, a trip to the kitchen comes with a chat, an introduction to a new colleague, or a quick riff on an ongoing project.
And like the lobby, the space also lends itself to a broad range of uses. From informal meetings and impromptu lunchtime gatherings to DIALOG’s annual charity breakfasts and Partner Chili cook-off, the kitchen is an intuitive locus of activity. “We intentionally went be yond the number of seats, fridges and microwaves that are typically prescribed for a workplace of this size, emphasizing ease and comfort to create a true community space. Nobody has to plan lunch at DIA LOG, all you have to do is show up, and it’s a social occasion.”
The sociable spaces are complemented by equally well-considered work areas. Rows of desks are positioned alongside the windows, bathing workstations in natural light. Comfortable lighting and green ery weave together the whole studio with a biophilic ambiance. Sooth ing textures accent the furnishings and the walls, lending the clean,Scott
Past the lobby and reception desk, a central corridor forms the spine of the airy, light-filled studio. Running through the heart of the studio, the hallway bisects the space, demarcating a subtle, porous barrier between quieter workstations from more sociable spaces. On one side, rows of individual workstations are interspersed with shared workspaces, as well as semi-private and fully enclosed small meeting
airy space a pleasantly tactile presence. For McNeil, who boasts an award-winning portfolio of hotel projects around the world, such touches represent an artful melding of hospitality and workplace.
The result is a workplace that celebrates gatherings, both planned and spontaneous, and fosters the sharing of ideas, a pivotal quality for a multi-disciplinary design firm. And even as the pandemic continues to dampen the vibrancy of downtowns and offices the world over, the design’s experiential quality makes the DIALOG studio an uncom monly compelling workplace and a destination in its own right.
At various scales and settings, a design philosophy has shaped some of Canada’s most appealing contemporary workplaces. In To ronto’s Liberty Village, for example, the new office for a technology firm exemplifies a similarly experiential, hospitality-inspired ethos —via a very different visual language.
Designed by local practice Syllable in collaboration with Hamiltonbased X-Design, the 55,000-sq.-ft. showpiece integrates a symphony of styles into a multi-storey workplace. Anchored by simple black finishes
and neutral hues, the office features a diverse range of environments, all clustered around a central atrium. From an airy and streamlined kitchen — a social focal point — to a lounge with a graffiti-accented brick wall backdrop and a ping-pong room with a pop-art accent.
While eclectic social environments have become increasingly common in today’s amenity-driven workspaces, Syllable’s design ups the ante. Here, eclecticism is celebrated as an aesthetic signature and a defining element of the environment. “As you walk through the space, it’s a jour ney,” says Syllable co-founder Tatiana Soldatova, describing a sequence of spaces that introduce “whimsy and playfulness” into the workday.
There’s more to it than fun and games. While the ludic quality of the social spaces is an obvious focal point of the design — and a power ful recruitment tool for prospective employees — Syllable’s ap proach is also rooted in a deep commitment to workplace wellness and inclusivity. “Different people are best suited to working and recharging in different types of environments,” Soldatova explains, “and the reality of a neurodiverse workforce necessitates a variety of equally varied spaces.” [see sidebar on page 33]
This spread The neurodiversity of the tech company’s staff was mirrored with diversity of spaces that gave choice throughout the workday. In addition, the design was guided by the findings of an anthropologist who emphasized five themes: “activity based working and its spaces; open plan and its discontents; designing for interac tions; privacy and efficiency; sound overload and sound privacy.” Activity based working was essential to spatial programming to provide contrast ing workspaces within a single office and allow people to choose which environment is best for them.
Above Despite the client being a technology firm, staff said they do not need “technology at all costs.” The ability to escape from technology in quiet spaces was placed higher than the need for cutting edge meeting room technology and prompted Syllable to design spaces where no technology was present.
It’s a reality that top hoteliers and residential developers have known for years: we all thrive in different types of environments. And at the tech company’s office, Syllable’s devotion to well-being resulted in taking a page out of the hospitality playbook, creating environments seldom seen in workplace settings. Consider the “speakeasy,” where a tranquil, dark ambiance complete with pool tables and plush chairs offers a respite from more active, animated spaces. “You can go in there for a quiet drink,” says Soldatova, “or you can discover it on your journey through the space.”
While Syllable’s seemingly free-wheeling yet rigorously ordered and surprisingly cohesive design shares few superficial similarities with DIALOG’s welcoming studio, both function as highly sociable and col laborative spaces and are shaped by a wellness-driven and hospitalityinspired sensibility that transforms a day at the office into an occasion.
In Vancouver, Hootsuite’s new global headquarters offers an outdoorsy west coast variation on the theme. Designed by Vancouver-based Māk Interiors, the 24,000-sq.-ft. workplace unfolds in a series of vivid and energetic spaces. Here, too, a deft combination of hospitality and resi dential influences converges to create an immersive environment.
Designed in collaboration with Fusion Projects, the space is organized around a loose cluster of pre-existing indoor “cabins” that were scattered around the room. Instead of removing these unconventional indoor sheds, Māk opted to transform them into a focal point of Hootsuite’s office. Re-imagined as a sequence of meeting rooms, lounges, and col laborative zones, the compact cabins — with wood siding and miniature verandas to boot — are complemented by bright green carpeting and colourful ottoman seating to create an intimate front porch ambiance.
According to interior designer and Māk founder Amber Kings north, the bold interior placemaking serves Hootsuite’s evolution into a flexible hybrid workplace. Hootsuite’s leadership surveyed employees throughout the work-from-home period to gauge their interest in returning to a communal workspace. “What they discov ered is that most of their team was interested in collaborative work
and gathering in an office, while continuing to work from home for more solitary tasks,” Kingsnorth explains.
As a result, the office is oriented towards more sociable environ ments with the cozy interior cabins paired with more open com munal spaces, including a relaxing living room complete with a fireplace and stone hearth. Accented by pleasant notes of greenery and intelligent skylight panels that mimic changes in natural light throughout the day, the office is rounded out by a range of spaces to support wellness, including prayer spaces, a mother’s room, and an isolation area for private moments.
While a thoughtfully holistic program makes for a versatile and inclusive space, the social experience remains at the heart of Hootsuite’s work culture. Kingsnorth describes the design’s guid ing principle as an embrace of the “welcome interruptions” that colour the workday; the chance encounters, informal meetings and coffee breaks that often catalyze and enhance creative think ing. And while more traditional workstations still occupy part of the space, the design embraces interaction and collaboration as the shared workplace’s greatest asset.
Above left & above The concept that emerged for Hootsuite was “wel come interruptions” that balance dynamic features such as colourful furniture and mural graphics with restful elements like living walls, natu ral light, and quiet cozy spaces. Throughout the space Mãk Interiors layered soft seating for open break-out areas, lounges, and quiet work zones with bursts of colour.
From coast to coast, workplace designers are translating the lan guage of residential and hospitality design to create more welcoming and sociable environments, thereby transforming workplaces into collaborative venues for interaction. And while all three projects here were conceived before the onset of the pandemic, they respond to a trend of hybrid work that’s been accelerating for over a decade.
For all that, COVID-19’s impact remains seismic. Over two-and-a-half years since the pandemic invaded our lives, office occupancies across North America (and particularly in Canada) remain well-below their 2019 levels. Does that spell the end of the physical office as we once knew it? Amidst a lingering public health crisis, growing transporta tion costs, an uncertain economic future, and a “great resignation”
that continues to shift the labour market, the 9-5 reality of a day at the office is an increasingly distant memory.
As employers struggle to hire, the flexibility of allowing remote work has become a de facto pre-requisite for recruitment in many indus tries. According to data analysis by job site ZipRecruiter, jobs de noted as “remote” garner some 300 per cent more applicants than in-person positions across the United States. For Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford University professor studying management practices, these shifts have long-term consequences. “The idea of a full return is dead,” he told NBC News earlier this year.
But the office still has plenty to offer: DIALOG, Syllable and Māk are among the interior designers proving it. By creating spaces that cele brate togetherness — while emphasizing health, wellness, and inclu sion — designers are transforming the workplace into a venue and the workday into an event. In Silicon Valley, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and Heatherwick Studio’s new Google campus makes the metaphor literal, combining a marquee event venue with a workspace. Here, even the colourfully varied desks feel like booths at a trade show, a feeling amplified under the sweeping, tent-liked doomed roofs.
While BIG and Heatherwick’s California showpiece reimagines the nature of the office writ large, interior designers the world over are beginning to apply the same concepts at smaller scales. And yet, even Google’s universe of engineers and algorithms can hardly predict the
Above Cabins help divide the space and create a meandering path through the office. Their interiors went from traditional meeting space to a mix of closed lounges, collaboration spaces, and team huddle rooms, and the charred wood siding exteriors reference Japanese Shou Sugi Ban .
future. As we adjust to a new economic and social equilibrium of the late pandemic era, another seismic and unpredictable change could be looming on the horizon.
Fuelled by rapid inflation and rising interest rates, a slowing econo my augurs another shift in how and where we work. While the fastpaced, competitive hiring of the past year saw remote work cemented as a workplace staple, the next recession may tip the scales again. If today’s record-low unemployment gives way to layoffs, bargaining power could tilt back towards employers. Will that mean an acceler ated return to the office? We can’t pretend to know for certain.
Fortunately, designers like McNeil, Soldatova and Kingsnorth have the wisdom of uncertainty. While today’s best workplaces are opti mized to make the most of a hybrid environment, they aren’t de signed to be static. Flexibility and adaptability are a key part of the philosophy, fostering versatile, multi-use environments than accom modate evolving needs. These days, designing for the times also means designing for the times ahead. It’s an axiom for an accelerating world where the only constant is change.
This was one of the main takeaways from a survey that asked neurodiverse individuals in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom to share how their work environments could better cater to their needs. The study was a collaboration between global architecture and de sign firm HOK, global flooring manufacturer Tarkett North America, and advised by Genius Within, an organization dedicated to helping neuro-minorities.
According to the survey, neurodiversity refers to varia tions in human neurocognitive functioning: the different ways we think, process information, and relate to others. One in seven people worldwide are estimated to have a neurodiverse condition such as ADHD, autism, dyspraxia, dyslexia and Tourette’s syndrome.
The survey collected data from 202 neurodiverse indi viduals, with a focus on women and workers older than 30,
two groups that have been largely underrepresented in other studies on neurodiversity. The survey found several challenges these individuals face when it comes to workplaces. A few of those include:
77 per cent of respondents reported being hypersensitive to noise and sound in the workplace
62 per cent of respondents were hypersensitive to visual dis tractions (movement, colour, light) in the office
Women reported greater overall sensory sensitivity challenges in the workplace compared to men, particularly when it came to temperature and light (62 per cent and 59 per cent com pared to 46 per cent and 44 per cent, respectively).
Survey respondents specifically identified the following work place strategy and design solutions employers could consider:
Offer training and education about neu rodiversity to all staff
Offer all employees (neurodiverse and neurotypical) a variety of workplace choices, from open office environments to private, to address various sensory stimulations
Provide spaces that support and en courage physical movement and ac cess to natural light
Create flexible work policies that give people autonomy over their schedule and work environment, including workfrom-home opportunities when feasible
“This latest study continues to show that, to allow all employ ees to thrive, office designs need to remain fluid and adapt able,” says Sargent. “Employers can improve employee well ness and productivity by offering a wide range of choices, allowing people to continually select the best space for their individual needs and the task at hand.”
While the pandemic has normalized hybrid work and en couraged a wider conversation around employee wellbeing, the HOK/Tarkett survey suggests opportunities still exist for organi zations to do more to support their employees.
“Neurodiverse employees bring valuable diversity of thought and competitive advantage to their organizations,” said Leslie Thompson, director of workplace for Tarkett North America. “Optimizing the work environment to support each individual isn’t just the right thing to do for our people; it’s sim ply good business.”
By Judith Carlson
Workplace stress has been on the rise since the beginning of the global pandemic. Coupled with political unrest, growing interna tional tensions and a seemingly endless stream of conflicts and wor ries, the workforce is experiencing elevated levels of pain, grief and strain that have led to a shared trauma for many people. As such, a collective wave of trauma-related symptoms such as fear, anxiety and isolation have swept over us.
It’s because of this that workplace strategists, designers and change management experts have a responsibility to create office environ ments that help with healing through trauma-informed design. Pri oritizing the workforce’s mental and emotional health, in addition to physical wellness through thoughtful programming and space plan ning, is essential in keeping our greatest asset, people, healthy and equipped to do their best work.
Whether a single incident or repeated events, trauma is a response to a deeply disturbing or distressing moment that overwhelms our abil
ity to cope. Trauma is associated with feelings of helplessness, dimin ished sense of self, inability to feel a full range of emotions and a va riety of health issues.
Trauma-informed design integrates principles of trauma-informed care into design to create physical spaces that promote safety, wellbeing and healing. It consists of five guiding principles that include safety, choice, collaboration, trustworthiness and empowerment. By realizing the impact the physical environment has on an individual’s sense of self, worth and dignity, we can create supportive spaces that positively impact a person’s mental and emotional wellbeing and generate a more positive workplace experience for the vulnerable.
When an organization puts trauma-informed design into action, they are demonstrating a commitment to all members of their team. From a change management and organizational planning perspective, this includes equipping employees with the resources and training to recognize and respond appropriately to individuals experiencing
This spread A key element to trauma-informed design is providing personal choices in which people prefer to work within the built environ ment. Ted Moudis Associates has designed a series of safe spaces, where employees have the choice to work solo or in groups, plus adequate privacy in intimate spaces that feel like nooks or alcoves.
trauma symptoms. Going beyond to empower people under distress to practice self-care, individuals will feel free to prioritize their health without judgment or shame.
When designing workspaces with trauma-informed care principles in mind, workplace designers aim to reduce adverse stimuli and environmental stressors, crafting a welcoming aesthetic that feels safe, provides adequate privacy and enables collaboration, trust and self-empowerment.
This spread As part of trauma-informed design, comfortable spaces allow employees to find solitude and recover from a stressful situa tion. Cafes with various seating options and enclosures give people the choice to work or relax where they are most comfortable. Additionally, biophilic design elements provide a sense of calm and help reduce stress. A sense of connection to the environment helps increase posi tive mood and comfort among workplace occupants. Ted Moudis Asso ciates incorporated a moss wall adjacent to a cafe-style kitchen to help improve the state of wellbeing for this confidential client’s employees.
Thinking strategically about the needs of all workers at an organiza tion, it’s crucial to actively engage individuals with dynamic environ ments that provide multisensory stimulation while supporting selfassurance and creating separated spaces that accommodate the diverse needs of the workforce. For some, privacy is just as important as collaboration, while others seek social settings to help them de compress after a stressful situation. The key is to empower team members with the opportunity for personal choice and provide areas where those who are distressed can decompress and regain a sense of control while balancing the organization’s goal to provide safety and comfort for the team as a whole.
To achieve an office environment that is visually appealing while not overwhelming, designers will minimize aesthetic complexity while selecting design elements that support autonomy and maintain feel ings of safety. Trauma-informed design components include adapt ing the spatial layout and making thoughtful decisions about furnish ings, visual interest, light, colour and art. The overall look should be clean, uncluttered and allow individual choice.
Biophilic design is particularly impactful as a proven method to promote feelings of calm and productivity. Carefully chosen design elements like daylighting, the use of living walls, natural materials, earth-tone colours and natural textures can all work together to provide a direct connection to the natural world. Corporate interi ors that incorporate biophilia into workplaces tap into the resil ience of nature to elicit a feeling of safety while stimulating produc tivity and calm through capturing nature’s inspiration, either literally or representationally.
While workplace stress continues to be on the rise since the beginning of the pandemic, looking toward the future we can expect to see contin ued emphasis on trauma-informed design. This focus will include easyto-navigate spaces, multifunctional furniture arrangements, purposeful use of colour to create a calming effect and an abundance of natural light. New environments will be designed with an emphasis on worker safety. Whether it’s increased transparency or a focus on wellness, the
future of our spaces will not only depend on the standard designs we are used to seeing but will prioritize the end users themselves. This will happen only by creating diverse, agile environments that can adapt to the ever-changing environment and support all employees.
By adapting the principles of trauma-informed design into the built environment, we will positively influence the attitude, mood and be haviour of our workforce and create a beneficial work experience for everyone. For more than two years, people have felt as if they have lost control of their surroundings. By purposefully designing environ ments in response to this sentiment, employers can give people their power back and enable greater healing for those who have experi enced challenging times.
Stacey Brandford Photography
By Lee Fletcher
A career in the design and development of products has taught me many things; in particular, the gap in understanding between what designers do and what clients are looking for. I’m not talking about the obvious tropes of not understanding the creative process, or the difficulties in communicating concepts. I’m talking about unspoken expectations: the ones we don’t know we have, be they client of de signer or designer of client. This gap can be highly influential on de sign work and potentially derail things if not managed properly. More importantly, it may also disguise opportunities within a project that can hold the potential for real breakthroughs.
Clients often ask for a little alchemy of designers, and of course that is our trade: to turn nothing into something. There’s a bit of magic in that and let’s be honest, it’s why we get hired. But there is also a threshold between designer and client: an unseen space that still heavily influences the design process once a project begins. This space is where expectations live, and it is this space that I want to shine a light on.
With all design work there is a measure of faith required to step into that liminal space and manifest a project’s requirements. This faith tends to take the form of a perceived understanding of values and goals, of past failures and successes and the deeper outcomes the client is trying to achieve. This faith is also required of the designer, also in the form of perceived understanding, and it extends to areas the de signer believes can be “pushed,” such as where the client and their manufacturing can be stretched to incorporate new things. Until those areas are made visible, they cannot be discussed and evaluated.
[Before I go any further, it must be said that the nature of this gap is not universal, and I am generalizing to make a point. I have had the privilege of working with numerous clients who had the insight and experience to know far more about these things than I, the designer they hired to help them. I am also certainly guilty of having at times unrealistic expectations of a client and letting those interfere with good work.]
Ironically, COVID-19 has given me an opportunity to reflect on my work and focus on a path towards better outcomes, which requires exploring what exists in the space between a design brief being given
We are at a point where the products we make for the workplace need to be significantly better than they have been, and an expansion of the liminal space between a design brief being given and the design work beginning may help get us there.
This page Cern desk accessories arose from exploring the material waste from casting large forms by an outdoor furniture manufacturer. When setting up a production run for large cast concrete products, there is always significant physical mass sent to landfill at the end. The goal here was to design small products that can be cast with whatever material is left over from the process, thereby creating finished products from what would otherwise be waste.
and the design work beginning. How can we point the “juggernaut of development” in a better direction, one that reworks the way we make things so we can keep making them? By “juggernaut of devel opment” I am referring to all the work that happens and investment required — the engineering, manufacturing, sales and marketing sup port all required to launch the product — once decisions around the look and feel of the product are finalized, or “frozen.” This is the jug gernaut, and it is largely the same for any product, whether well-de signed or not. Exploring the gaps in understanding and expectations at the beginning of a project will point the juggernaut in a better direction.
To better understand the nature of these gaps, it’s helpful to look at why they may exist in the first place. One could be that a designer internalizes much of the analysis of a project. Another may be a lack of interest or patience on the part of the client: they may just want to get a great new product design and leave all the background evolu tion “behind the veil” in the realm of the designer. Another reason may be that the problems are seemingly too complex that they feel irrelevant to the project or the output of the manufacturer.
The length of time a product may be in production is another factor. Here, speed to market with an okay product may be more beneficial to the business than slow to market with a great one. I’m sure no one set out to establish this process specifically, it is simply the result of a process that has evolved over time, trying to do the best work possi ble within the budgets and time allowed. But it requires an adjusted approach to help focus all involved. It will reveal and set expectations and define the right outcomes for a project.
Two generalized misconceptions about industrial designers are that we are either an extension of engineering where the creative element comes either from a marketing department or somewhere in the
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ether and we simply execute things, or that we are artists, drawing inspiration from the world around us and manifesting it into some thing that might be translated into a manufacturable product. Of course, in any project both things happen, but the difference between design and art is that design embodies the potential of utility. It also generally needs to exist within a vast system of production: of materi als; components; products; recycling and reclamation. Neither of these assessments captures what the industrial designer does en tirely: instead, they sit between them, overlapping and translating from one field to the next.
If we can view the process of designing things not as subservient to manufacturing or as a creative angel depositing magic dust on things, but as a connector of dots for all the aspirations of the company mak ing the thing — inviting many voices and then connecting them — the weave that can emerge will be richer. It is a delicate point, because as we all know great design does not happen in a democracy, but in the same breath, it does not happen in a vacuum either. Ignoring the voices around us will undermine the potential for truly great work.
The business of office furniture is in a heightened state of flux, and what those involved in product development are grappling with. But in talking about things that are to be physically made, there is an other aspect to the flux that is being worked through, although not always so publicly and not always to the same degree: how do we use the resources we have to make the things we need with a more “whole” view of energy and materials to be sure that we can keep on making them? Might we have to do more than simply learn about new materials and replace the bad ones with better ones?
When we navigate a project in a one- or two-dimensional way (simply looking for the sexy new thing that we can actually make) we miss op portunities to think collectively and weave together more threads that add real depth to a project. The opportunity we have is to collectively address the new requirements of workplaces with products that are sustainably made as participants in the circular economy. Out of this will likely come new archetypes based on new ways of doing things.
Much of what designers and manufacturers of furniture do is a varia tion of what has been done before. Product categories and project specifications keep us in a system that struggles to accept different ways of doing things. The “sweet spot” for an industrial designer is the combining of varied requirements into a single solution with a sensitivity to the clients’ competencies and all the varied needs that come out of the research and observations that led to the project. What is worth noting is that this intangible task of creating links be tween seemingly disconnected things and integrating them into a cohesive solution is often not clear. The opportunity we have before us is to make this more visible, invite more voices into the process and then act as a more articulated meeting point for all these conflict ing elements and unite them into a compelling product.
This is not about a predefined process or set of questions with the promise of success every time, but a way of engaging the elements that bear on a project that can give them voice and form a founda tion for the work that happens in the liminal space. This could be called a “Schematic Design Phase,” which is a term I came across while working on a landscape architecture project developing a master plan for a major public building in Ontario. Before any de sign work was to be done, all the parameters that needed address ing were clearly laid out and weighted to be used as guidance through development, including historical references and potential uses for the space that the products would be used in. Once estab lished, it became a reference point for the design development, in forming direction and helping in decision making.
You could look at this as an attempt at getting all the requirements on the table at the beginning of a project to avoid the inevitable late re quirements that derail projects or, at the very least, often dilute the de sign intent into a collection of notional elements with no clear rationale as to why they exist anymore. The complexities I’m referring to will not be revealed through conversation alone. They need to be actively ex plored and tested, and only through experimentation can they be re vealed and evaluated. This dialogue could take the form of many itera tions of varied ideas and then demand input from the client, something that would contrast with presenting a resolved concept with a theatrical “ta da!” While I certainly love those moments, I worry they gloss over and eventually obscure larger issues that never get addressed.
The opportunities for improvement in the way we make things lie in two key areas. First is an adjustment in expectations from the market place. The implications of an ask for a project can be explored through dialogue with a client rather than simply accepted and then executed by whatever means necessary. If clients were aware of the implications of what they were asking for, they may well ask for some thing different. Second is a shift in composition of the products we
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This page DESIGNwith is a collaboration between designers and industrial design students at OCAD University to create furniture in a social enter prise incubator in CF Toronto Eaton Centre. Furthering the idea of the Community Chair (opposite) — asking more of the makers than simply assembling pre-made components — these pieces are designed to draw people who have little or no experience making things into the process. The intent is to connect people to the products they surround themselves with and give them a sense of agency to make better choices when buying things, consider fixing them when they break and recycling or repurposing them at the end of their useful life.
Above Inner city drop-in centres need better chairs to help create a safe and inviting environment. We collaborated with the Toronto shelter system to develop a chair to be made by clients of the centres themselves. Drawing on the supply chain used by contract furniture makers, the design enabled the “manufacturer” to be the drop-in centre. Called Community Chair, each is comprised of a shell made of moulded plywood with a beech veneer, and a steel tube frame. With an Allen key and a hammer, the chair can be simply assembled by hand in a short amount of time.
make. The form of a furniture product is more often established by the composition of elements than the form of those elements. The composition allows for certain forms to be created and the harmony between the two is what creates a successful product.
An example of this is the task chair. To look at task chairs from over a decade ago is to generally see a large array of levers that controlled a wide variety of adjustments all intended to improve the ergonomics of the chair and the health of the user. But extensive research re vealed two things: first, that many people never adjusted these chairs, so never really took advantage of their capability; and second, that they spent far less time in those chairs than originally thought. This cast a new light on task seating: was it reasonable to spend $1,000 or more on a chair no one adjusted or sat in for very long?
The door that opened with this realization was that chairs could be come simpler in their composition without needing all the adjust ment previously thought necessary. This allowed for slimmer, lighter mechanisms with less complexity and material required to create them, allowing for more sculptural control over the forms and ulti mately lower product costs and greater sustainability as a result. The market accepted these changes, and while there are certainly highly capable task chairs available today, they are more dedicated to the kind of tasks they are designed for. For most seating requirements, a lesser technical capability is needed and can be found on a huge array of chairs in other parts of the workplace, places where a high degree of collaboration is required and where chairs are not owned but sim ply used for a short time by a variety of people.
Of course, designers are not the sole answer to these new problems we are facing. But a broader, renewed perspective and an increase in the number and diversity of voices that add value to the process is how designers can hear and then integrate those voices in a tangible way.
As a parting thought, I’ll share this. When faced with a difficult prob lem, one that seems elusive and hard to envision solutions for, I use an approach that may seem counter-intuitive but can be the impetus for new directions: overlay the first problem with another problem. Stop focusing on the first one — don’t ignore it, just put it on the back burner for the moment — and focus on the new variables you are trying to solve for. In this case, the problem of new furniture for new workspaces coupled with a reforming of the way we make things to ward a circularity in production.
This may result in new archetypes that we haven’t seen before. It also may be new product details and connections or surfaces resulting from new component compositions within established archetypes. These new “things” hold the potential to redefine how we make things through the lens of new requirements, all the while remember ing that people are people, people are physical and we’ll always need something to sit on, a surface to write on and an alcove to recede to when we want to think.
The renovation accommodates the parts of government that had been parceled out in separate buildings and introduces a clear visual hierarchy, with the new council chambers given pride of place with its adjacent meeting room highlighted by a giant-order picture frame befitting the room’s status as the seat of power.
Like the other meeting rooms, the council chamber’s atrium-facing wall is of clear glass (with roller shades concealed in ceiling pockets). “Our government buildings share a theme of openness, with nothing to hide,” Sapounzi says. “Being able to see people working in town offices reinforces the idea for ratepayers that ‘These people work for me.’”
+VG maintained the existing main entrance at the uphill side of the building and introduced side entrances where the new and old build ings meet. Visitors entering through the main entrance walk through a corridor—previously a dark tunnel—and soon see the big open, skylit atrium, which encourages them to go farther and explore the building.
By David LaskerIn Owen Sound (population 21,612), the county seat of Grey County (96,000) on Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay, two hours north of Toronto, the main attractions are the waterfalls within a short drive of the town, and downtown, the Grey County Administration Building, newly renovated and expanded by +VG Architects Ltd. (+VG).
The County had long outgrown its existing home, built in 1960. Many programs could only be housed in remote facilities, hampering operations and service delivery. The new addition and renovation gathers most of the county’s services, including the Provincial Of fences Court (where citizens pay their parking and speeding tickets), under one roof, making it easier for citizens to receive services in a centrally located, fully accessible community hub. The project added 50,000 square feet of new space.
“The colours and design of the new addition complement the existing building,” says Paul Sapounzi, managing principal and Project Archi tect at +VG. “I conceived the exterior as a visual metaphor for good governance and the embodiment of Vitruvian virtues,” he says, alluding to the Roman architect Vitruvius’s famous assertion that a structure should exhibit firmitatis, utilitatis, venustatis (stability, utility, beauty).
“To leaven that sobriety, I enhanced the interior and exterior with fun and exciting elements that boost the creativity and performance of the civil servants and help visiting members of the public feel welcome,” says Sapounzi.
In 2012, County Council asked +VG to provide a space-needs and programming analysis of the existing building and a master plan and architectural design for a new and better one. Criteria included sus tainability, low operating and maintenance costs, and the flexibility to allow for expansion without disturbing existing operations. +VG concluded that while the existing facility was in good condition, it fell short of current standards for communication and technology re quirements, privacy, confidentiality and barrier-free accessibility.
Upon reaching the atrium, the dramatic vista of the town and the blue waters of Georgian Bay one kilometer away, combined with the open layout, help people orient themselves intuitively within the building. “We didn’t have to do a lot of wayfinding because it’s built in. If people need to go downstairs, they can see the lower-level ser vice desk from the atrium’s upper level.
“The addition completes and complements the existing building,” he adds, which exemplifies the classicizing Modernist style of the Six ties, when the façades at New York’s Lincoln Center for the Perform ing Arts launched a trend for abstracted arcades. The addition re tains and highlights two of the original building’s arches, formerly on the exterior and now at the atrium’s rear. The rounded vault of the atrium skylight complements the arches, creating a pleasing continu ity of forms between the old and new building campaigns.
The terrific view wasn’t the only reason to locate the addition in front of the original building. The difficulty of site grading and servicing down the steeply sloping hill was outweighed by the opportunity to exploit the topography and offer natural light to most of the offices and public spaces. With daylight from the building’s perimeter supplement ed by the skylit atrium, every office harvests natural light. “There are no dark spots, neither in the lower level, nor in the upper level,” Sapounzi says. Mechanical rooms and other spaces that don’t benefit from natu ral light are located at the back of the original building’s lower level.
Placing the addition at the back, on the other hand, would have re quired burying half of it underground or adding two storeys above the existing roof, which would in turn have necessitated a major structural retrofit to bear the additional load. Another advantage of the new configuration is parking, confined now mostly to the rear. “We didn’t want to showcase a sea of cars, we wanted to showcase the beauty of the building,” he adds.
Oppoiste The new atrium lobby outlines the exterior vista through the interior of the building and acts as a wayfinding device for interior circulation, while blue plastic laminate frames a central meeting room. In the new council chamber, nature can be viewed literally through the windows and poetically at the framed birch logs on the opposite wall.
+VG Architects updates Grey County’s administration building, gathering previously dispersed services into an accessible, community-friendly hub.
Towards Intrinsic Value and the Production of the ‘Self’ in Relation to the Other
Recently I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting and thinking about the ‘perceived’ universality and supe riority of Western knowledge, which continues to act as a foundation for a persistent form of colonial ism and Western imperialism. It has led me to ques tion the structures that exacerbate certain inequali ties and hierarchies that we want to overcome. As a curator, I engage with these questions through the lens of art and design—exploring how art and design are related to ongoing crises and alternative avenues for thinking about art and design, and how they pro vide capabilities to work with these crises.
What I read into auto-ethnographic design is the idea of self-building in relation to the other, which seeks to overcome the forces of systematic hierar chies and externalities and instead conceives of de sign according to its intrinsic value. The act of pro ducing and the production of oneself in relation to the other raises questions of how, and more impor tantly why , we produce; it also raises the question of what this production means for others, the environ ment, society, human and non-humans etc. As rela tional beings, we are fundamentally responsible for what we produce. Such questions of the how and why are fundamental when rethinking art and de sign in an age of crisis; these are questions that we so crucially need right now.
What does intrinsic design look like, given the fact that it requires a considerable re-thinking of how we value design?
If we denounce the market, we need new models that allow or support people to create from intrinsic values. By an intrinsic value, I mean that everyone can and has the right to create regardless of market or cultural hierarchies (autonomy). This goes against the idea of a universal / modernist idea of quality, and proposes a pluriversal idea as laid out by Arturo Escobar. Such a notion of quality, at the same time, adjusts itself from the given colonial and neo-liberal Western hierarchies and gives precedence to per sonal and individual sovereignty in relation to the other (without falling into the trap of individuality which is a neo-liberal concept—things such as liber ty and freedom). There is no autonomy without the other and vice versa.
An intrinsic design calls for an awareness of the con nection between the self and the other. It should be able to take into account the ‘other’ in all aspects, human and non-human. It should go beyond extrac tivism—using the means of production to create hi erarchical narratives—and should instead seize con
trol of the means of production to create value for all and everything. This of course is difficult. Let’s say someone doing a residency at the Jan van Eyck Academie is spending a year doing research in their own studio. Is this experience of doing a residency extracting from someone else’s need and want? Yes and no. If one is not aware of one’s privilege and the inequality inherent in the control of the means of production, then it would be extractivist; if one is aware of this privilege, then I would say it is not extractivist because the production would then take into account the conditions under which the produc tion has taken place and would account for the in herent inequalities present in production. So, basi cally what I am saying is that this notion of the intrinsic goes beyond the idea of autonomy in the arts, which has always been seen independent from social or societal structures/responsibility.
What I’m emphasizing here is a type of autonomy in the arts that takes into account the inherent inequali ties present in the means of production and in so doing, goes beyond these inherent inequalities. What does this mean for art and design practice? It means that one needs to think about how and in what kind of context production takes place, as well as in what way context affects the means of production and the production itself. One needs to think about material use/resources, organizational structure etc.; in other words, one needs to think of every form of energy put into the system and every form of energy taken out of the system.
How do we support a system that sustains an intrinsic value in design—one that supersedes the limits of the ‘colonial/ modernist/ Western’ design values? And what do we need to put in place to foster a change in attitudes and systems?
More and more often, I think about the disconnect between production and presentation. Presentation, to some extent, determines what we produce since it is an essential part of ‘creating value’ through being viewed and/or used. But what if the current COV ID-19 crisis were to be extended into the future (a future with restricted travel, limits to resources, and an entirely different world dominated by the on line)—how would this affect how we produce de sign? What would this mean for the systems of value that surround design? To what extent can designers disconnect their production from presentation and be present (being out in the world) and still pro duce? What kind of design schools would we have then—schools more concerned with the production of oneself (perhaps personhood/subjecthood) than with the production of products (externalities)? The solution for me is to connect the act of production to
the act of living, so that we account for being able to produce oneself. In that way, one does not have to externalize oneself but only produce oneself. Pre sentation is a form of externalization creating hier archies and extracting resources.
We need institutions that take into account several key aspects: overcoming quality and excellence (uni versal narratives); a structure for people to be able to create/produce, disconnecting production from presentation or the valuing of production; a dis course on how production takes place, the context of production, adjusting for the inherent inequalities that come with the control of the means of produc tion; producing people instead of products.
At the Jan van Eyck Academie right now, we don’t focus on the ‘quality’ of the object but rather on the human being, who the artist or designer is as a hu man. This resonates a lot with what you’re proposing in this book, which sees design as a practice of life, about self-building. We add to that, proposing that you cannot build yourself without being in relation with the other. So, we take into account how the pro duction of the self is constituted. It’s about that spot between the practice of art and the art of living (to gether). This is a totally different approach than mak ing products aimed at market expectations and uni versal values. This idea of the art and living resonates well with what an art residency can be.
How do you gauge the quality of designing the self rather than designing objects?
You don’t, you don’t; it’s fluid and it’s plural. You can’t.
Should we do away with terms like excellence?
We should move away from universalist notions of what constitutes excellence. Art residencies can be exclusive to begin with—the fees to participate, the language gap, and the selection procedure etc. Insti tutions have been re-producing an exclusive and nar row notion of ‘excellence’ for years. ‘Excellence’ is just furthering these power relations.
I hate to sound repetitive but what do you strive for then in design if it’s not excellence?
Design then becomes a conversation, an act of prac ticing ourselves through our senses. You look at the stories, the experiences, and the changes that are
part of interacting with the (material) world—shap ing it and being shaped by it. We strive towards de signing better selves.
This could seem extremely self-oriented.
Art and design are the practices of changing your self. And changing yourself is to change the world. Whatever you produce is an extension of yourself. It’s an attempt to speak and communicate through the self. There is no self without the other and no other without the self. Communication is in fact an approximation of the changes undergoing in your self; it’s an attempt to understand the world, to be with the world, to understand your desires, fears, or hopes.
How is this connected to something bigger than ourselves or our understanding of the world?
Behind all of these big changes, whether it’s climate or questions of justice, there are personal aspira tions and desires. This requires work that is sincere and intimate. If you can foster this, then you are able to exact considerable change. In this way, transfor mative design is not about explicitly addressing ex ternalities but about connecting oneself with others.
We must learn to practice the art and design of liv ing—no results, no objectives, just allowing yourself to become who you are through an exploration of the material world.
Hicham Khalidi (MA, 1972) is the director of the Jan Van Eyck Academie in Maastricht (NL). Prior to this, he was an associate curator of Lafayette Anticipations (Fondation d’entreprise Galeries Lafayette) in Paris, curator of the ACT II group exhibition in the Beirut Sharjah Biennial in 2017, served as a cultural attaché to the Biennale of Sydney in 2016, and was chief curator of the Marrakech Biennale in 2014.
Michael Kaethler is a sociologist of design whose work focuses on the transmission, production and embodiment of knowledge in art and design-oriented practices
The preceding is an excerpt from The Auto-Ethnographic Turn in Design (© 2021, Valiz) edited by Louise Schouwenberg and Michael Kaethler.
In a conversation, two acquaintances of mine opined that it made no sense to represent architecture in drawings and photographs without people, since architecture is primarily made for people. I agree. Putting people in architectural representations gives a sense of scale, flow, and suggests that the space being depicted is in service of its users. Plus, we intuitively respond better to our environment when it contains living organisms, as they attract our attention more readily than inert objects.
One suggestion was to push this idea further and photograph spaces in their natural state: dirty dishes, socks lying around, etcetera. While this may initially make sense, the problem is we don’t perceive a space in 3D the same way we do with a 2D depiction. Clutter, when reduced to two dimensions, takes on exponentially epic proportions. Small objects in the wrong spot, stray wires and such have the potential to render an image merely average, even if all the other aspects of the photograph are spot on. This is why stylists exist. They take a blank space and visu ally turn it into one that naturally looks lived in. But if you were to walk through the scene, their staging would make no sense as it is purely designed to evoke a certain atmosphere from one point of view alone.
Male fashionistas love to chase after the idea of sprezzatura, or stud ied carelessness, which aims to compose extremely deliberate outfits while appearing effortless. These are near perfect in every way and
then some random element is added to make it look effortlessly ele gant by, say, leaving a button undone or tying a scarf in a slightly im balanced way. In reality, they’ve spent hours looking at themselves in the mirror to create this look.
This analogy applies to photography of human spaces. If I photographed your kitchen the way you left it untidy this morning, the pictures would look like shit. But if I carefully recomposed the essence of that mess, making it look good from the camera’s angle, it would look, to an out side observer, as if I tried to randomly spread your dirty dishes around without rhyme or reason. In truth, the composition is calculated.
So, if you have the desire to make your space look lived-in, remember the idea of sprezzatura, making it look good seemingly without effort, all in service of that one image that will convey a certain ideal. And keep in mind that a stylist or a photographer agonized for hours over the composition of that one shot.
We’re always walking a fine line between reality and deception, but I’d argue that so long as no false promises are made, all visual trickery is fair game.
As
WINDOWS AND DOORS. BUILT FOR HOW YOU LIVE.
WINDOWS AND DOORS. BUILT FOR HOW YOU LIVE.
Skycove is a projected glass structure that provides expansive views and captures light from three sides and from above. It’s an intimate space to disconnect, relax, and rejuvenate. While cozy for one, the seat can reach up to 20 square feet, which is large enough for multiple people. When hectic schedules and frequent distractions limit time spent with friends and loved ones, Skycove presents a unique and inviting place that can encourage people to gather and share their lives.
Skycove is a projected glass structure that provides expansive views and captures light from three sides and from above. It’s an intimate space to disconnect, relax, and rejuvenate. While cozy for one, the seat can reach up to 20 square feet, which is large enough for multiple people. When hectic schedules and frequent distractions limit time spent with friends and loved ones, Skycove presents a unique and inviting place that can encourage people to gather and share their lives.
Call 1-800-263-6161 or visit us at www.marvincanada.com
Call 1-800-263-6161 or visit us at www.marvincanada.com
©2022 Marvin Lumber and Cedar Co.,LLC. All Rights reserved. ®Registered trademark of Marvin Lumber and Cedar Co.,LLC.
©2022 Marvin Lumber and Cedar Co.,LLC. All Rights reserved. ®Registered trademark of Marvin Lumber and Cedar Co.,LLC.