How can design interpret the radical change taking place in the world of work?

With the new digital technologies, work also follows us out of the office, even to our beds – as Beatriz Colomina showed us during the last Venice Biennale.

In the same way, offices are increasingly being transformed into domestic environments, featuring not only desks to sit for eight hours, but private and semi-private spaces for meetings, leisure and informal gathering. 

Walter Knoll interprets this changing landscape with Foster 620, a modular upholstered bench designed by master Norman Foster and presented at Orgatec 2018, the international trade fair for offices and contract, which this year presented the theme “Culture @ work”.

“Today a manager’s chief task is communication. It is thus even more important that managers can find and take advantage of the right situation for their upcoming meeting – whether the small separée, the standing height table or the sofa for a group discussion,” says Markus Benz, CEO of Walter Knoll.

Foster 620 is designed for common and meeting areas. The product consists of six modules that can be combined in infinite variations, adapting to the needs and shape of the space in which it is located. With its distinctive curved lines, it becomes an iconic element that characterises office spaces.