This year, despite the intense workflow, I managed to visit my biennale of working environments again – the Orgatec. In the latest shift of the times, visitors seemed shocked yet hungry, searching for new approaches to their yet unexplored concerns. They listened to each other’s conversations, trying to capture trickling trends and understand where the wind was blowing. This year, I wandered through Orgatec with more focus, yet somehow a bit more introverted. I had to find my way, orient myself. My latest projects desire innovative applications, and I was full of hope.
The world and, following it, the work environments are facing new challenges. AI is overwhelming job markets with its expansive potential, while a human is still the main focus of workplace design. This year, I was more interested in trends and the atmosphere of exchanges during these turbulent times than in trying out furniture live. Between us: I really believe we’re at the tipping point of the industrial era 👀.
Several furniture manufacturers dedicated their booths to the conceptual meta level, while others stayed with the classic interior approach. I love how Orgatec has become a platform for exchange, with exciting panels and talks on current issues. My agenda was packed to the brim, and I was glad to try out some innovative objects along the way.
I've noted and formulated my coolest insights for you (who would I be if I didn't).
✅ AI advancement is the next societal shift after remote working. AI drives politics and work cultures and impacts working environments. In corporate worlds, AI has become a must-have, even though it actually overwhelms many people. I think we lack a discourse about what this does to us perceptively. Does anyone besides me feel addressed?
✅ Heard at Orgatec: "Luckily, we have a skills shortage! If we didn’t, we’d probably spend even less time dealing with AI."
✅ My favorite insight: "Our natural human senses are like antennae we stretch out into the outside world 🦑". I love it when people bring an anthropological perspective to the corporate context. It’s wonderful to hear this directly from researchers – it reassures me that I’m on the right track and should keep trusting my intuition.
✅ Like AI, we humans are constantly recognizing patterns. We draw boundaries and distinctions, looking for meaning in spaces – whether it’s a kitchen, an outlet, a view out the window, or a staircase. We come to understand our environments through patterns and situate our behavior accordingly.
✅ Heard at Orgatec: "Nowadays, we call it socializing; back then, we called it ‘unproductive time.’" 👨🏻🦳
✅ Our surroundings are always literally present within us. Visual and auditory information is constructed and perceived in our brains. We’re doing so much research on AI, yet the human brain remains so unexplored.
✅ Heard at Orgatec: "Are architects now like better HR professionals?" I’ll just leave that here. 😌
✅ Staring at the screen is the new smoking.
✅ Color design is an inseparable part of spatial design, as color presence activates and boosts health. I learned there are torture methods in which people are placed in completely stimulus-free rooms. A room needs to appeal to our senses for us to feel comfortable there.
✅ A closing panel of the Art & Design Rewire opened my heart. These artists held a panel on their morning rituals. These people felt so free, in contrast to the entire fair packed with efficient, corporate-driven experts, AI pioneers, and salespeople. These artists, with their liberated concepts about the human existence and nature’s being. I’m so grateful and wish them all the best on their pure, challenging, yet deeply valued path.
✅ With progress comes a growing sense of insecurity. The constant flow of information makes people feel like they have to do EVERYTHING and know EVERYTHING. It’s not slowing down. I wish for everyone that there were more safe spaces to ground themselves and retreat.
✅ After weaning, my cycle caught up with me again, and the clumsiness phase has definitely made itself felt. You think you can handle a Bánh-Mì sandwich like a lady, only to catch yourself at the food court with onions hanging out of your mouth. Naturally, all eyes on me. 😶🌫️
If you made it this far, then you found it interesting – thank you! 😌 Then we should definitely chat sometime. I always enjoy sharing this kind of inspiration with my community! And it enables me to keep developing projects on the cutting edge.
I look forward to the coming weeks – they’ll be exciting – and wish you all to stay up-to-date! There’s so much content these days, I feel like a Shiva agency. I’m diving back into my workflow, and we’ll stay in touch.
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