Interview with Philippe Paré, Managing Director of Gensler Paris, on designing offices to meet the very different individual needs of users, the starting points for architecture and interior design, and the opportunities offered by the consistent use of technology.

The interview was recorded following his presentation on neurodiversity during the FRAME session at ORGATEC 2022.

“If we want to imagine the working worlds of the future, digitalisation explains very little, while networking explains everything,” says trend researcher and author of the New Work Order studies Birgit Gebhardt. It is not about technology, but about the exchange of information, goods and services. An ancient principle that can now be used in a new way through new technologies. She talks about granular society with Dr Christoph Kucklick, Editor-in-Chief of Geo Sociology. According to this, the old premises of industrial society have had their day. The average, according to Kucklick, is dead. It was the basis of a society oriented towards mass production. Now companies have to adapt to the individual wishes of their customers and employees. Gebhardt discusses how architecture can support this with Ole Kretschmer, strategy consultant at M.O.O.CON Bauherrenberatung. His credo: architecture becomes a symbol for cultural change.

If you want to see how the new world of work works, it’s best to take a look at the start-up scene. There you can observe how productive work and dealing with greater complexity can be combined, says Birgit Gebhardt, trend expert and author of the New Work Order studies. However, a distinction must be made between hipster clichés and real performance. Dietmar Möller, project manager of the Merck Innovations Center, has set himself this task. Before he and his team began planning their building, which is geared towards cooperation and openness, they visited start-ups around the world to learn from them how innovation can be stimulated. Then they tried out in a pilot project what could be transferred to the family-owned company in Darmstadt. The result was a building that is designed for networking and, for the first time for Merck, also allows for the integration of external partners. Martin Henn, Head of Design Henn Architekten, explains the planning process and how the building works. At the end of the video, Gebhardt and Dr. Stefan Rief, head of the research area Organisational Development and Work Design at Fraunhofer IAO, look at the external factors that can lead people to a certain working attitude: Acoustics, spatial structure as well as withdrawal and relaxation. They talk about the benefits of movement, spatial diversity and role models for its design.

Dr Craig Knight, Director of Identity Realization Ltd (IDR), answered our questions at ORGATEC 2022 in Cologne. He explained, which strategies companies can use to contribute to the well-being of their employees, and how they can achieve stronger employee loyalty almost as a side effect. 

The video explains aspects and backgrounds of sustainability as well as the approach of the European LEVEL certifications.

“If we want to imagine the working worlds of the future, digitalisation explains very little, while networking explains everything,” says trend researcher and author of the New Work Order studies Birgit Gebhardt. It is not about technology, but about the exchange of information, goods and services. An ancient principle that can now be used in a new way through new technologies. She talks about granular society with Dr Christoph Kucklick, Editor-in-Chief of Geo Sociology. According to this, the old premises of industrial society have had their day. The average, according to Kucklick, is dead. It was the basis of a society oriented towards mass production. Now companies have to adapt to the individual wishes of their customers and employees. Gebhardt discusses how architecture can support this with Ole Kretschmer, strategy consultant at M.O.O.CON Bauherrenberatung. His credo: architecture becomes a symbol for cultural change.

When ORGATEC 2020 had to be cancelled due to the Corona pandemic, we joined forces with FRAME and Koelnmesse to move parts of the programme to the virtual stage. 4 days, 4 talks and 4 panels were dedicated to the future of workplaces. The focus was on the resilient, responsible and responsive office. This video lets some of the twelve participating experts share their views.

In March 2021, we talked to different experts about what traces the experiences from the Corona pandemic will leave in our working world. We were concerned with learning effects on working at a distance, requirements for spaces for hybrid meetings, health protection and new leadership qualities. Two former Best Workplace Award winners spoke about the adaptations of work organisation in their companies. Finally, Frame editor Robert Thiemann and trend expert Birgit Gebhardt took us on a short journey into the working world of the future. This video summarises some of the key messages from the contributions.

From 25 to 29 October 2022, exhibitors at ORGATEC 2022 showed what the new world of work has to offer. The focus was on challenges of the new working world, trends in workplace design and the question of what will attract people to the office in the future. In brief, it was all about the added value of the office. The IBA Forum was part of the event with a large stage, four partners and an additional area for the Best Workplace Award.

The Next Space – Co-created communities
On 26 October 2022, Sonya Simmonds, Head of Workplace Innovation & Design at Spotify, talked about why employees will lead the next phase of workplace design. Using Spotify as an example, she explained how the development and control of workplace concepts can work and why co-creation therefore plays such a big role. 
Programme partner: FRAME. Moderator: Robert Thiemann. Language: English

The Next Space – The empathetic workplace
On 26.10.2022 Robert Thiemann opened the third edition of “The Next Space”. This time the event was entitled “The Empathetic Workplace”. In his manifesto for the future, Robert Thiemann defined five key points for the design of spaces. 
Programme partner: FRAME. Language: English

The Next Space – The purposeful office
On 26 October 2022, Marco Huber, SVP Workplace Strategy DACH & CEE, Jones Lang Lasalle Work Dynamics, talked about “The purpuseful office” and how real estate can work for employees again. He gave deep insights into the studies of his employer, e.g. on the question of what employees would come to the office for and what they expect from their workplace.
Programme partner: FRAME. Moderator: Robert Thiemann. Language: English

The Next Space – New office rituals
On 26.10.2022, Austin le Clercq and Bas van de Poel, Founders of Modem, talked about designing a more seamless and inclusive collaboration experience for the new reality of hybrid work. They highlighted the gap between the development of workplaces and current technology and explained how big tech giants are trying to bridge it. 
Programme partner: FRAME. Moderator: Robert Thiemann. Language: English

The Next Space – Next waves wellness amenities
On 26.10.2022, Philippe Paré, Principal and Managing Director of Gensler Paris, talked about antidotes to anxiety, purveyors of purpose and their importance. He explained the dimensions of well-being, planning processes at Gensler and the connection between well-being and inclusion. 
Programme partner: FRAME. Moderator: Robert Thiemann. Language: English

NWX Session | ORGATEC – On 25.10.2022, at the invitation of New Work SE and IBA, Dr Craig Knight, business transformer and psychologist for management, leadership and workplace design, talked about “The Post Pandemic Office” and the potentials associated with the empowerment of employees.
Programme partner: New Work SE. Moderator: Thomas Ramge. Language: English.

Der Zukunftsforscher und Stadtgeograf Dr. Stefan Carsten beschreibt die großen Trends der Stadtentwicklung und beleuchtet die Chancen neuer Mobilitätskonzepte. Er beschreibt das Konzept der 15-Minuten-Stadt und wie sich dieses auf die Wahl des Arbeitsortes auswirkt. Die anschließende Diskussion widmet sich den Konsequenzen für die Standortwahl Bürogebäude sowie deren künftige Rolle. Moderation: Katharina Schmitt, Personalmagazin.

Der Vortrag wurde im Rahmen des IBA Forum Thementags “Hybrid Work” am 27. Januar 2022 aufgezeichnet.  

Gideon van der Burg, Managing Director Benelux at Leesman, and Julie Deignan, director of CBRE’s Furniture Advisory service, discuss the long-term effects of the pandemic on the workplace revealed by study and survey results which the two speakers present in this session. According to van der Burg, the focus is on the question of where, when and how work will be done in the future and whether the rapid response with home office solutions will become more established in the future or whether hybrid models will be more common. Data from the surveys can help address these early changes in collaboration, flexibility, scheduling and combining the old and new, Deignan says.

The lecture was recorded in October 2020 as part of a cooperation between FRAME, IBA and ORGATEC. 

Workplace strategist and Founder of Shape Kursty Groves and Mijail Gutierrez, Principal and Design Director at Perkins&Will, talk about the changing role of a central office and corporate culture in a future where physical presence is no longer essential. Gutierrez is certain that workplaces that are co-created with end users can foster the essence of a culture and express an organisation’s values. Groves emphasises the need to set goals to manage communities when they are apart and then bring them together in meeting spaces, for the right reasons at the right time.

The talk was recorded in October 2020 as part of a cooperation between FRAME, IBA and ORGATEC. 

Patrick Frick is Lead Facilitator at Global Commons Alliance, which brings together the world’s major environmental organisations. At the first The Next Space event on 21 October 2021 in Eindhoven, Frick explains the unpopular, but therefore important, scientific findings on the dramatic impact of humans on the Earth and our global commons, that keep our world resilient. 

Anthropologist Gerda Stelpstra, Associate Partner Total Workplace EMEA at Cushman & Wakefield, explains in more detail what Circular Office Design means and how it can be implemented in office spaces, but also why people should be considered in the process of designing regenerative workplaces. Stelpstra stresses the importance of involving the community in the planning of office space by thinking carefully about the future use of the building. She further explains the steps in the ReSOLVE framework, that companies can take to move toward a circular economy to include suppliers and occupants.

The current developments have the potential to revolutionise materials used in the contract sector in the long term. On this account Hon. Prof. Dr. Sascha Peters, one of the leading material experts and trend scouts for new technologies in Europe and owner of the technology agency HAUTE INNOVATION in Berlin, provides an insight into the material innovation scene.

David Basulto, Founder and Editor in Chief of the most visited architecture website worldwide ArchDaily, provides interesting insights on how the architecture and design industry is changing on the verge of a rapid digitalisation and integration, reshaping the role of architects and designers. In this exciting presentation, Basulto explains how these processes are related to digitalisation and sustainability, and much more.

Pieter Kool, founder of Carbon Studio, decided already 12 years ago to bring a dream into reality together with a group of people – a floating neighborhood in the middle of Amsterdam. This impressive project not only took time and effort, but also required a set of interpersonal rules that make the community work well together. An extraordinary story with ups and downs that inspires listeners to do the same.

Eveline van Leeuwen, Scientific Director at the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS), is an expert in urban economics and turns the spotlight on urban agriculture and urban food space by explaining, what the rise of urban agriculture means for the way cities will be planned and experienced in the future. She outlines practical behavioral and procedural changes such as waste avoidance, sustainable production and dietary changes, that each of us can gradually implement into our daily lives.

On 21 October 2021 Robert Thiemann opened the inaugural event of the NEXT SPACE series, which is FRAMEs iterative think-tank about the future of spatial design. With a view to the dramatic climate development, he also calls on the design industry to act now. He is convinced that architecture and design have so far failed to realise their full potential in the areas of sustainability, environmental awareness and human-centeredness.

What is in the actual and the future GPP and the closely linked Ecolabel? How does the European Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) and the upcoming Sustainable Products Initiative (SPI) influence the international furniture market structures, for office and home alike? Shane Donatello (Research Fellow – European Commission), Marco Fossi (FEMB) and Volker Weßels (Head of LEVEL certifications) talk about sustainability, the challenges for furniture manufacturers and the potential of standardisation and LEVEL certification.

Kurt Ward, Senior Design Director at Philips Healthcare, comes up with exciting insights into tomorrow’s healthcare system and how the sector is already working on various solutions to provide better care to more people and make processes more efficient. He provides us with not only a range of interesting facts about the impact of harmful substances on our wellbeing, but also latest innovations to save and use spaces.

The lecture was recorded in October 2021.

Robert Thiemann, Founder and Director at FRAME, and Dick Spierenburg, Creative Director for imm Cologne and ORGATEC, talk about the growing trend of working from home and the new opportunities it is unleashing. Spierenburg sees great potential and a growing market for multifunctional and flexible work furniture as well as undefined areas within a living space that can be used for anything including work. He gives furniture manufacturers the tip to merge home furniture and work furniture and to offer their customers particularly smart solutions and flexible furniture innovations.

The feature was recorded in January 2021.

In this session Robert Thiemann, Founder and Director at FRAME, and Dick Spierenburg, Creative Director for imm Cologne and ORGATEC, explore the battlefield of retail and discuss current and future developments in the design industry. Both experts are certain that showrooms and stores must be activated and filled with life by brands in order to attract customers in the future. As part of the whole media ecosystem, the webshop is also existential for companies of all types and sizes. However, designers must continue to have the opportunity to try out and experience products at trade shows or events.

The feature was recorded in February 2021.