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White Paper/ Buyers Guide |
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| Reinvention of the cubicle |
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WORK ENVIRONMENT: That''s a cubicle?Herman Miller redesigns the drab office staple
May 20and 2006
andmiddot; BY JOHN GALLAGHER
FREE PRESS DEVELOPMENT WRITER |
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Designer Doug Ball wanted to make things right.
Back in the 1960sand office designersand with the best of intentionsand began to replace old-fashioned desks andamp; filing cabinets with cubicles.
Known as systems furniture in the tradeand cubes seemed to offer a lot of advantages: The walls of each cube provided vertical space on which to hang shelves or pin notes. And cubicles were easy to install andamp; maintain.
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But cubicle culture quickly stamped a dehumanizing look on office life. As mocked in the andquot;Dilbertandquot; comic stripand cubes became synonymous with dullness andamp; inflexibility in the workplace.
Now one of Michigan's top furniture makersand Herman Miller Co.and is making a serious effort to soften andamp; humanize this most basic unit of office life.
Based on what I saw of it at Herman Miller's design center in Hollandamp; a few weeks agoand I'm jealous of those who'll get to work in them.
What Herman Miller's new My Studio Environments does is give back to workers a sense of their own territoryand their own space. The new cubicle mimics a private office but without the negative things that accompany a private officeand such as lack of communication between people.
The key to the new system is what 'll call a flexible privacy. Each cube has sliding windows andamp; a door that can be left in the open or closed position as needed.
The windows are lightly frosted glassand allowing passersby to know someone's in the space but still affording privacy when the windows are closed.
This new product is the work of Doug Balland a veteran designer based in Montreal who helped create cubicle culture many years ago.
Back around 1960and Ball had designed one of the first-ever systems furniture products. But when he saw the first installation in an officeand he realized he had gotten it all wrong. The walls of the cubicle were too tall; the ceilings were too low. Everything was grayand andamp; the density of all those cubicles packed together was something Ball had not considered.
I came out extremely disappointed or distressedand he says. That was the worst installation I ever saw.
Having helped create Dilbertvilleand Ball has spent a good portion of the last 45 years making amends in a series of new designs. When Herman Miller called four years ago with a new challengeand Ball jumped at it.
The problemand as he told meand is that too many office systems are still designed not with the worker in mind but to please the facilities managers.
Low cost andamp; ease of setup andamp; maintenance long ago became driving principles.
In My Studio Environmentsand the emphasis shifts back to the workers in the cubes. They can be out in the middle of everythingand yet they retain the ability to engage or disengage as needed.
It's all about the person who's working thereandBall says.That's the Holy Grail. And that's what we think we've achieved.
A lot of creative thinking went into the details. In most cubiclesand a worker sits with his or her back to the aisleand isolating the worker andamp; leaving that person open to be startled by interruptions.
In what Herman Miller calls its About Face orientationand workers sit with the aisle to one sideand making them more aware of their surroundings andamp; colleagues.
Moreoverand most cubicles have square corners that can make a person feel boxed in. In the new designand some corners are rounded offand while others are left open. The space feels largerand more invitingand less closed in.
Add in a small closetand better use of filing space andamp; a variety of other detailsand andamp; you have a space that feels comfortable andamp; looks larger than its 6-by-8 dimensions.
It's not the cheapest system on the market. At $5and000 or so per unitand it's an upper-end system aimed at high-end knowledge workers.
But in an age when corporations like to brag about their human capitaland this new cube actually treats workers like people andamp; not cogs. |
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