by Brianna Crandall — June 24, 2013—Global furniture company Herman Miller introduced its Living Office vision and several new products during NeoCon 2013 in Chicago June 10-12. Among other NeoCon introductions , the company’s Metaform Portfolio was recognized with an Innovation Award in the Furniture Systems category of the Best of NeoCon Competition, and was an entrant in the Architectural Products category. Locale collected Silver in the Furniture: Benching category, and was an entrant in the Furniture Systems category. Public Office Landscape was an entrant in both the Furniture Systems and Seating: Sofas and Lounge categories.
Metaform Portfolio
Designed by Studio 7.5 in Berlin, Innovation Award winner Metaform Portfolio offers a collection of modular blocks to delineate space and create a diverse range of Living Office settings. An accompanying array of purposeful accessories furthers the blocks’ utility. Inviting participation and enabling productivity, Metaform’s lightweight and intuitive pieces are easily configured and reconfigured—in the moment—by the people who use them, without tools or rules.
Considered by the designers as equipment, not furniture, Metaform keeps pace with ever-changing work styles, postures, activities, and technology, says Herman Miller. Metaform is also designed to spur creativity and productivity with an active display of work-in-progress, screens, and adjustable power outlets to keep everything in reach.
Locale
Designed by Sam Hecht and Kim Colin, Silver winner Locale enables the creation of dynamic, high-performance work neighborhoods within open-plan environments, says Herman Miller. In combination and proximity, a composition of Locale elements is intended to encourage the free and intuitive shift from individual work to collaborative and social activities and drive serendipitous interaction.
The subtle curvature of Locale’s surfaces is designed to signal openness, invite interaction, and generously accommodate multiple collaborators, work styles and tools. People move and change positions naturally because of the centralized structure and cantilevered surfaces, notes Herman Miller.
With the addition of height adjustability, a push of a button reportedly allows an individual to sit down for focused work or stand up to collaborate with colleagues. Adjustability is not limited to surface height—mobile tables, screens, and easels can be utilized as the need arises. By easing physical and experiential transitions, Locale’s consistent and thoughtful design vocabulary contributes to a more seamless total experience of work, adds the company. Locale is planned for availability in the winter of 2013.
Public Office Landscape
Since frictions in the workplace can interrupt productivity, Public Office Landscape is designed to keep an office in the state of flow where people move freely between conversations and tasks. Reference-setting casual ergonomic seating along with surfaces, storage, and screens enable a multitude of work settings—from group enclaves, to circulation spaces, to individual work—with a consistent vocabulary, says Herman Miller.
Designer Yves Behar of Fuseproject described the thinking behind the system: “…as a workforce, we’re less anchored than ever, craving an unprecedented mobility. Collaboration is the new normal, and technology is pervasive and ever—changing. People today work in flexible and fluid ways that defy traditional cubicles and conference rooms. We wanted to design a system that catches our space up to how we really wanted to work.”
