Aprs

PLANET

FUTURE
future
VISION
vision

June 2016

From the A-Team

A.
From the A-Team

The furniture world as we see it.

C.
The Interview

We talk to PearsonLloyd.

B.
Features

Future Vision: Office Technology.

D.
The Apresal

The Honken Workstation.

Earlier this month Milan transformed itself. While usually decked out in high
heels and haute couture, the city opted for something a little more businesslike: from the 12th to the 17th the city went from being one of the fashion
capitals of the world to being all about furniture.
Salone del Mobile Milan is one of the highlights on the furniture calendar
and draws in 2310 exhibitors in an area covering no less than 207 000 square
metres.
For many of the heavyweight manufacturers re-launching or exhibiting
freshly face-lifted classics seemed to be the order of the day.
Knoll celebrated two of their most iconic designers,Harry Bertoia andEero
Saarinen by exhibiting gilded and bronze versions of the Side Chair as well as
ones suitable for the outdoors. Saarinens Womb Collection, and in particular
the settee, also enjoyed a re-issue.
In a similar vein, Ahrends motif for the expo was a good design is a timeless
one and they decided to exhibit designs from as far back as the late 40s
and early 50s.
All this retrospection, however, didnt sit very well with everyone
New York-based designer and performance artist Nikolas Gregory (viawww.
fastcodesign.com) would have us believe a lot of designs only gain entry
because they were well financed (by the manufacturing heavyweights) or
have been created by designers that have been exhibited year after year.
Gregory says that this results in boring designs as the leading manufacturers
usually play it safe by exhibiting rehashed versions of old classics.
His antidote to this was to douse Milan in sounds of flatulence and a bit
of (toilet?) humour by encouraging visitors to place whoopy-cushions
(emblazoned with f-art) his studio designed on furniture pieces they deem
boring.

E.
Wellbeing
Office exercise.

F.
Wishlist

The furniture world as we see it.

Another trend (perhaps not so prominent at the Milan fair) that we have been noticing is
how the furniture world has cottoned-on to the fact that technology and the Internet of
Things will need to be embraced in order for them to stay in touch with what is happening
in the rest of the design world.
Embracing technology in furniture design is not a techy gimmick but a
necessity. Greg Lynn, a designer for Nike, recently commented in an interview
with Dezeen that the furniture industry is slow to engage technology. Itll
either happen or theyll disappear.
Luckily companies like Vitra (ahem, take note mister Nikolas Gregory!) are
working on interesting collaborations which sees the use of technology in
furniture reach some interesting results
All well say is watch this space!

A.

FROM THE A-TEAM

FUTURE VISION:
OFFICE TECHNOLOGY
By Wessel Stoltz

Halcyon days, where we

are left to our own devices
(read no devices), are
gone:technologyis taking over
the world. But that might not be
as bad as it sounds

the workplace again. In a

recent articleon BBC, it was
noted that large corporations
have started to embed hundreds
of sensors into their buildings
and the systems that keep it
hospitable. This, in turn, can
If youre prone to opening a
be connected to the internet,
newspaper every now and
which makes the management
again or sneakily flicking through
thereof possible for staff.
a few news sites during that 2
oclock lull at work, youd most Deloitte, in their Amsterdam
likely have come across the office, at least, has emterm the Internet of Things.
ployedtechnologythat enables
their employees to adjust the
While thistechnologyallows
heating (let the battle between
physical objects to do pretty
the sexes commence!),lightcool things (Elon Musks selfingand blinds via an app, while
driving cars or the fridge that
Arup, a building consultant
orders milk from the grocers
here in London, are toying
when it realises the dairy levels
with embedding sensors in
are running low!), employing it
desksand allowing workers to
in the modern workplace could
control heating and lighting
save millions of pounds and
from them.
increase employee happiness
As technologymoves forward,
it allows for the possibility
of innovation in theoffice
environment. Think, for example,
of how offices used to be rigidly
fixed because of the constraints
of only having internet access
by cable. With Wi-Fi becoming
readily available and secure
it opened up the door for
designers and office planners
to lay out office plans that are
more intuitive and humanfriendly.Technology in theoffice
environment
quite
literally
liberated it.

The article goes on to say that

it is estimated that these smart
buildings could save as much
as 20% to 50% in energy bills a
good thing for the companys
pockets and the environment.

What does this mean for future

furniture designs? With the current
trend ofAgile Workingseeming
to have made a lasting
impression on the workplace,
flexibility is paramount. While Felix
de Pass said in a recent panel
discussion held byBisley, that
the workplace should create a
sense of belonging, we believe
And now Wi-Fi and theInternet that it is important to note that
of Thingsis about to revolutionise it should do this, but in a setting

b. FEATURES

where nomadity is still possible.

Hot-desking, done incorrectly,
can easily alienate workers. When
you dont have an assigned
workspace that belongs to you
alone, losing that feeling ofesprit
de corpsbecomes a real threat to
team cohesion and productivity.
We see a future where the
technology in furniture is used to
make employees feel like they
are at home; where the designs
intuitively adjust to the specific
users preference when they
enter the vicinity and make them
feel a sense of ownership.
With height-adjustable desksnow
becoming commonplace in
the office, it wont take too big
a stretch of the imagination to
imagine a situation where sensors
in a vacant desk recognise
a
users
predetermined
preferences and adjusts its
height accordingly as the user
approaches. Similarlymodern
office chairscould adjust in
tension, height and backrest
position,
where
items
like
the Beatnik Sound Station
Chaircould automatically start
playing a users playlist when he
or she sits down
While this is all still wishful thinking,
were optimistically holding our
breaths that this technology in
theoffice environment becomes
commonplace.

TALKING SHOP WITH

PEARSON LLOYD
By Richard Williams

Suave, debonair, charismatic,

articulate dashing even with more than a hint of silver
shadow.
No, not the handsome hero
in a clichd romance novel
or the brief for portraying
an aspirational male in a 30
second TV advertisement,
but the impression one
gets of Luke Pearson, one
half of British design duo
PearsonLloyd, in around 15
minutes of conversation.

own industry. Can you give an

example of this?

really. These are all influences

on office design.

LP:
Effectively
there
are
different influences that come
into different industries from
either demographics (how
people behave together), to
industrial build cultures that you
can use. All these things are
gathered by us as experience.

RW: What problems do you

encounter with design now that
didnt exist when you started
out almost 20 years ago?

RW: Do you find that your office

design briefs are becoming
more ambitious now due to the
rapid advances in technology
such as secure WiFi?

LP: Speed is one thing: people

want things too quickly these
days. I think the problem with
computers, in relation to the
service industry, is that often
you can handle huge amounts
of data very quickly. But data
still has to be synthesised, on
a creative level, by human
beings. Unfortunately human

"i couldn't possibly

comment..."

LUKE Pearson

We talked to Luke about

modern
office
furniture
design, the importance of
personality in the workplace,
quantum physics, and what
the future may hold in the
furniture industry
RW: How did you meet Tom
Lloyd?
LP: At the Royal College of Art.
We were about 22.

c.

THE INTERVIEW

RW: You recently told an

audience on a talk about the
modern workplace that you
try and garner clues from other
industries such as hospitality,
to remain innovative, rather
than solely research your

LP: I think that the briefs are

becoming more ambitious
because
people
realise
that one size doesnt fit all.
In the 80s and 90s we had
companies selling thousands
of the same workstations due
to the huge expansion of the
service market and computing
which meant that you needed
computers linked together on
similar platforms. There were
a number of factors Those
restrictions have disappeared.
Also, weve got decentralisation;
mega companies that dont
necessarily
require
mega
amounts of people. So, huge
changes are taking place as
we speak and over the last 10
years theyve been very visible

beings have now got the

unenviable task of dealing with
far more data in far less time.
In a way we are being
compressed at both ends of
the spectrum. On one level
you could say that weve got
an extraordinary myriad of
influences available to us. On
the other hand you dont get
to actually spend any time
to deeply immerse yourself in
anything, because youve got
this tsunami of information that
rushes past you. I think its very
similar on the design process:
you can access vast quantities
of information but that doesnt
mean that you are going to
end up being in control of it.

RW: We are big fans of the

Ad-Lib range you designed
for Senator. Can you talk us
through the design process or
what inspired the series?
LP: Ad-Lib was based on the idea
of building a universal platform
that could provide a high quality
of seating experience with a
range of different outcomes
in terms of the leg frames and
applications, so it was quite
simple as a brief. It is actually
quite difficult to get that right
as an outcome. Each different
seat platform and ergonomic
posture or use probably forces
the product into different build
scenario. Trying to get it on one
platform is pretty difficult.
RW: Are your clients now more
aware or more informed over
what they want in a product or
office design, than they were
when you started out?
LP: I think clients are infinitely
more aware than they used
to be. Whether they are
knowledgeable
is
another
matter; theyre not necessarily

the same thing. You can be

aware that something is out there
but whether you understand it is
another matter.
RW: In a similar vein, do you now
find that clients are more aware
of personality types within their
organisation and take this into
account when asking you to
design for them?
LP: Yes. I think this is one of the
major breakthroughs in company
culture and HR. Companies
are far more advanced in
terms of reading the workforce
and
satisfying
workforce
requirements, not because of
legislation but because they
realise that it improves the
working dynamic. The idea of
leisure time in the 21st century is
almost mythical its probably
going the other way and so as
a result my belief (and I think a lot
of companies are beginning to
realise this) is that the workplace
has to be made more interesting
and more accepting of the
personalities that are going to
inhabit those spaces. Therefore,

they actually allow a social

culture to develop, rather than
saying This is the company and
this is how you work its more
like: Ok, who have we got here,
how would they like to work, how
would this benefit everybody...
So, the process [designing in
response to personality types] is
beginning and weve got a long
way to go. Its as much evolution
as it is revolution and I think its
also a process of change. Youre
never going to get it quite right
because, just like evolution,
things develop. Youve got to go
forwards with the principle that it
will never be perfect but youve
got to always look for perfection.
In other words: accept change
and look for opportunities at all
times.
RW: If you could have chosen
any other vocation in life, what
would it have been?
LP: Quantum Physicist.
RW: Having designed Lufthansas
first fully flat Business Class seat
does thank you come in the

form of a lifetime of business

class flights?
LP: I couldnt possibly comment!
RW: Describe Tom Lloyd in one
sentence.
LP: A partner; as a business
partner you need someone
whose opinion you can trust
and demands a challenging
conversation.
RW: Described Luke Pearson in
one sentence.
LP: Hopefully the same [as the
answer above]!
RW: And finally Where do you
see furniture heading in the
future?

LP: I think were going to see

a polarisation. At one end of
the spectrum it will be generic,
bland and simple. On the other
end of the spectrum it will be
infinitely customised.
Were going to see, I think,
ever-increasing demands on
products being cheaper and
doing very specific tasks. Well
see a degradation in content,
sometimes for good reasons
and outcomes. At the other
end of that spectrum it will be
absolutely bespoke solutions
because we have much more
knowledge of what we need
and want and the general
market cant supply it.
Also, it relates to this question
about workplaces; designing
very specific and tailored
solutions for staff because one

size fits all doesnt always work.

Whereas in some applications
one size fits all does work. I
think what Im talking about
is a much richer spectrum of
product. At one end bland and
simple because it doesnt need
complexity, and other end it
needs absolutely everything.
The brand new Twelve Sofa is
available from Aprs Furniture.

"...people realise that one

size doesn't fit all."

the apresal:
honken workstation

As if the Honken Armchair from Bla

Station was not cool enough already,
maverick designers Thomas
Bernstrand,Johan Lindau&Stefan Borselius gave it the star treatment to make
it an even more desirable object for the
modern office or agile workspace. The
result is the Honken Workstation
Armchair.
With the addition of a writing tablet/side
table and a nifty storage compartment
below it, this already roomy armchair, is
an agile office essential. This, however, is
not where the additions to the
Honken Workstation Armchair stop
cleverly tucked under the chair is a
power socket, complete with USB ports,
to ensure you stay charged throughout
the day.
The Honken Workstation Armchair is not
only the answer to all your agile working
needs, but is equally at home in training

D.

the apresal

environments, schools, colleges and university settings.

Introduced to the public at this years
(2016) Stockholm Furniture Fair the
Honken Workstation Armchair, like his
more ascetic cousin, sports a durable
30mm tubular frame with a bottom plate
of no less than 6mm steel. The chair basket is formed from expanded metal and
ensures that the frame is rigid and can
resist, ahem, shocks to the system
The chair is available with a high or low
back and with or without back cushions.
You can also specify whether you want
it upholstered in either fabric or leather
and with or without an accompanying,
and very complementary, ottoman.
The Honken Workstation Armchair is
more than a mere workstation it
becomes a little microcosm where comfort and style is key and where you can
focus on the task at hand.

Being organised does not

have to be boring.

Office Exercise
Work towards a healthier life.

Is your office flexible enough?

www.agileworking.london

Offices are designed to minimize movement; its all about keeping you at your desk so you can
simultaneously appease the bosss wife on the other side of the line (thats why you matter to
him), type out a mail, flap down a copy of the year-end report on the scanner, hand the stapler to your colleague and, if youre lucky, press the on button on the espresso machine. All
whilst sitting down at your desk.
Lucky for you, weve done all the legwork (pun intended) and came up with five sneaky exercises that you can covertly do at your desk or in the office, and if you are found out by
chair-toting, exercise-hating colleagues, you can always fall back on the facts: people who
exercise during the day are far more productive and happy than those who dont.
1. Have a ball!
Instead of sitting
on the average
office chair, opt
for an exercise
ball. By just sitting
you work on your
abs, improve your
balance and even
correct your spinal
alignment.

3. And Squat
Feign a few indecisive stand-up and
sit-downs without
losing face in the
office, your quads
will thank you
later. Those in the
know will tell you
that squats are
great at burning
fat!

4
#agileworkinglondon

2. Bottoms up
Clenching your
bottom while sitting
will give you that
extra bit of lift you
need! Tense your
glutes and hold for
15 seconds, relax
and repeat. Just
do try and not pull
a face

4. Leg up
While sitting with
both legs at 90
and feet firmly
on the floor, raise
your right foot a
few inches off the
ground and hold
for 20 seconds,
alternate and
repeat.

5. Tiptoe-tapper
With both feet
flat on the floor,
tap your toes
alternating quickly
between feet. Try
and lift your toes
quite high as this
works out your
shins.

5
e.

wellbeing

Objects of Desire
Go on, spoil yourself...

214 Chair

Proust Geometrica
Designed by Alessandro Mendini, this
piece is as much art as it is chair.

Its no mean feat getting a

knot into a solid wooden
chair... But thats why this
chair is one of the most
succesful ever.

Cork Family Stools

Three small friends, robustly built, stable, individual

in character and lovable in appearance.

F.

Harvey Sofa

wishlist

Great in green and perfect for those gregarious

moments in the office breakout area or at home.

Akari Floor Lamp

Designed by Isamu Noguchi, this floor lamp will shed
all the right kinds of light.

The boss said we should come

up with an ad for Aprs Furniture.
Preferably on the last page of
our newspaper, something our
readers will remember. Only, it
should be quite funny and kept
on the short side. If you can do
something witty, that would be
great, because people dont like
a direct sell. Throw in all the latest
furniture pieces we have, he said,
and maybe you should also add in
a line or two about our designers
being the best in the business. And
dont forget to write about all of
the awards they have won.
Oh, right, I said with a straight face,
Ill just do a short, clever furniture
ad with the words sofa, king
and good