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WORKSPIRIT
HW
When you say that offices have reached
a standstill: how could this be changed?
EB
With furniture. Furniture
can determine the architecture of the work
environment. It can be arranged to form a
visual separation, almost like a wall. In prin-
ciple, one hour later, or a year or a decade,
when you’re not happy with the arrange-
ment anymore, it can be repositioned.
HW
Furniture alone doesn’t create a dynamic;
it depends on what you do with it.
EB
True, and one of the keys
behind my thoughts is an analogy to bio di-
versity. Imagine a forest: Apart from the damp
and the cold, it’s actually the ideal office. In
the forest there is wide-open area with natural
light, or on the opposite – small bushes, hidden
corners – all of the distractions that our body
requires to work well. We humans are much
more complex than computers and machines.
Therefore, for me, it’s incomprehensible that
we ascribe our bodies to a single table, a single
work configuration – like machines.
HW
As an administrative official your father spent his whole life working at a desk. What have you learned from
him about office life?
EB
A lot, because my father often talked about his office. Once he told a story
about employees that had complained to him because the cleaning staff wouldn’t clean their
desks. Of course, my father’s opinion was that this wasn’t a job for the cleaning ladies; rather it
was the responsibility of each employee. This question of “taking responsibility for yourself”
was a central issue for us as well. My father is still appalled when he visits our studio. He takes
the disorder as a sign of wasted money and a lack of accountability. He has some difficulties to
understand the mess as a creative organization.
HW
What would your dream office look like?
RB
I have a small house in Brittany. Through the windows I enjoy a free view over
the land and sea. To work I need a horizon, a free perspective, and in Brittany, I have that.
EB
The location doesn’t really make a difference to me. I love machines, so my
workplace would have not only a chair and a desk, but also tools and machines that I can create
models and prototypes with. In my dreams there are never enough machines in our office. My
dream office would be similar to a workshop-sized as a factory.
