On Thursday, January 20, Okamura, which has designed offices in Asia and other countries, and GARDE, which has designed offices mainly for foreign companies, held an online seminar.
The seminar was moderated by Yusuke Yamada, Editor-in-Chief of Okamura Corporation’s WORK MILL, and started with a presentation by Kenta Kawaguchi of Okamura Corporation’s Global Design Center on the theme of “Creating an office that encourages, not fears, change.
Based on examples from Southeast Asia, he explained in detail the elements necessary for offices to “transform from a place of work to a place of communication” from both software and hardware perspectives. As an example, in the design of the Okamura Bangkok office, to respect the identity and values born from the Thai environment and culture.he explained the adoption of “biophilic design”and A monk prays after the office is completed . I was able to hear some very fresh and interesting stories.
On the other hand, Francesco, a designer from GARDE, gave a presentation on “ABW/Agile Working”, which is said to be difficult to promote and spread in Japan after its introduction, under the theme of “Solutions to problems learned from ABW pilots”.
The combination of the pilot project and ABW/Agile working has many advantages even in the midst of uncertainty due to the impact of Corona, such as “the ability to try out scenarios based on various ways of working,” “the ability to make adjustments even in case of failure, and the ability to implement on a relatively small budget,” and “the ability to verify effectiveness and understand problems (PDCA). I also strongly felt that it is something that can be expected to have the potential for unique evolution and development in the future in office design in Japan, where unique cultures and environments still persist. After each company’s presentation, heated cross-talk was exchanged on how to make global standards and local standards coexist.
Through the presentations of the two companies, (1) communication and collaboration spaces will be secured. (2) Provide space (play) that can be adapted to various styles. I felt that the two companies had these things in common. Despite the hour and a half long session, more than 170 people attended, which showed how much attention and importance is being given to creating offices that respond to changes in work styles.
Well, GARDE will be planning and implementing many seminars and events focusing on the web. We also accept requests for our designers to appear in events co-hosted or organized by your company at any time. If you are interested, please contact us!
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■Seminar Overview
Title：What is the future of work and office design from the perspective of global office design?～Challenging Change～.
Date and time：Thursday, January 20, 2022, 15:00-16:30
Method：Webinar (using ZOOM Webinar)
Guest Speakers：Okamura Co. Kenta Kawaguchi, Global Design Center,
GARDE Co. Takanori Tsukiashi、Francesco Ristori
moderator：Okamura Co. Yusuke Yamada, Editor-in-Chief of WORK MILL