Soft Work from Vitra: for working in the post-corona era
The image of the office has changed dramatically since the coronavirus crisis: Cafés, airports and parks have become offices thanks to modern communication tools. Instead, the office is more like a public space that stands for inspiration and exchange. Vitra has made this its mission with the Soft Work program.
The coronavirus crisis has changed the office more than at any time since the introduction of the computer. Thanks to Zoom, Slack and the cloud, people have primarily turned their homes into offices. But they have also started working in parks, hotel lobbies, coworking spaces or, when it was still or again possible, in cafés and restaurants. Remote work or working from home finally became established last year.
These changes are having the biggest impact on the office itself. According to Vitra, offices are increasingly becoming public spaces: companies are creating varied places for inspiration and creation - and are no longer simply providing workstations with screens. They want to create places where employees, but also external parties, can "work, linger or hold meetings". Just as the way we work has changed, so too has our office. In short: work doesn't have to take place in an office, but everywhere.
Vitra wants to counteract these behavioral patterns with the Soft Work range. If a sofa is used for working, then it must also be ergonomically designed for this purpose. With this in mind, Vitra has developed the Soft Work seating system together with designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby. It is intended to bring together components and inspirations from a home, an office, but also from public spaces. One example of these questions is: Why are desks the center of an office and not a seating landscape? For the two designers, the development is clear: "The office desk is going the same way as the dining room, it is disappearing as an archetype. With mobile technology, you need a place to sit down occasionally or hang out comfortably. We believe in that."
You can also work on the sofa
With Soft Work, Vitra wants to create a versatile platform that is practical for the user: it should offer mobile tables and chairs, but also panels or seating landscapes. Vitra emphasizes "the simple construction of versatile configurations". This allows the architect to define the interior spaces flexibly and set a focus for concentrated work, a lively meeting or a relaxed exchange wherever they like.
Vitra aims to score points with technical details: The table shelves are movable and can be used for a wide variety of sitting and working positions, power sockets are located between the cushions, screens can be swiveled to different angles. In short: working instruments can be easily integrated into living furniture and vice versa. Vitra's aim is to create individual usage and space requirements, whether in an office, coworking space, library, train station or café.
RAUMTAKT GmbH has completed a new project next to the former Fraumünsterpost on Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse. We were able to build an office conversion at Poststrasse 3 in Zurich city center for the globally active Aquila Capital from Hamburg. We installed the "Soft Work" seating system in the new reception area of AQ Investment AG and handled the furniture delivery with the traditional company Rüegg-Naegeli AG.
Find out more here: Vitra | Soft Work
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Text: David Torcasso(Handelszeitung / BILANZ)
Picture credits: Vitra
Press release: Press Release - Vitra
