Thursday, December 25, 2014
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
The Evolution of the Office: How Modern Offices Have Evolved and What to Expect in the Future
Over the past 50 years offices have changed in both in terms of design and technology. It was only 50 years ago when we were sitting at our desks equipped with just a pen, paper and a typewriter. The workplace is constantly evolving and adapting. As new technologies and work practices come to the fore the office environment is subject to change. David Brouder of All Systems shares this interactive infographic charters the evolution of the office from the mainframes of the sixties to cloud computing and beyond.
As seen in Social Media Week.
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Inside Facebook's New Frank Gehry-Designed NYC Offices
Facebook has settled into its 185,000-square-foot office in the historic Wanamaker Building at 770 Broadway near Astor Place, and to mark the occasion—and make everyone else feel sad about how completely boring and inadequate their offices are—they're unveiling the space with an event (and feature in the Wall Street Journal). Frank Gehry designed the new work space, now home to 500 employees and engineers. The floors have open layouts, there's a full service cafeteria and a library, as well as all of the things that one thinks of when picturing a hip tech company office, i.e. gaming tables, exposed ceilings, and custom-made art.
Read the rest of the article and see more photos here on ny.curbed.com.
Monday, December 22, 2014
The Shrinking of Personal Space at Work
Forget standing desks—some companies are doing away with assigned workstations entirely.
First they came for the offices, replacing four-walls-and-a-door situations with desks in cubicles, even for workers of considerable stature.
Now they're coming for the desks themselves.
On both sides of the Atlantic, big companies are moving toward more flexible setups that do away with assigned workstations. The financial motivation to make the most of premium office space is primary. But another big driver now, and going forward, is mobility.
Read article from The Atlantic
Friday, December 19, 2014
An Ergonomic Setup Guide: Sit-to-Stand Workstation
With the workplace changing, now more than ever, there is a focus on health and wellness. Research shows that moving throughout the day increases workplace satisfaction and morale, while reducing discomfort, ultimately decreasing employee absenteeism. Height-adjustable tables play an increasingly important role in contemporary office planning, offering flexibility, personalization and advanced ergonomic performance. The following tips will help set up an ergonomic workstation that ensures overall health, wellness and productivity.
1. Table Height
Table height or input devices should be just below elbow height when sitting or standing.
2. Keyboard
Keyboard should be within easy to reach and within the width of your shoulders.
3. Monitor
Monitor should be at eye level, approximately an arm’s length away from you.
4. When sitting
The task chair should be able to fully support your back and the chair height should be set to allow your feet to fully touch the floor.
5. When standing
You should distribute your weight evenly and stand tall, and ensure that the keyboard and monitor are still set appropriately
DOWNLOAD "AN ERGONOMIC SETUP: SIT-TO-STAND"
Source: www.knoll.com
Thursday, December 18, 2014
The Millennials Are Coming!
Young people are clashing with traditional working environments, but soon they're going to be all the workers. Does the environment need to change, or do they?
Next year, people born between 1981 and 1996 are poised to become the new workforce majority and will eventually remake the workplace in their own image. That means office culture is in for big changes. As a new survey shows, this generation is already chafing at today's traditional company structures.
Read Fast Company's article "Millennials Will Become The Majority In The Workforce In 2015. Is Your Company Ready?".
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Give your employees a space they look forward to coming to
Your office needs more nooks, less sitting. Creating paths for chance meetings, including nooks, and designing agile, unique workspaces are solutions that designers say promote collaboration, creativity, and productivity in the modern office. See Fast Company's article "Workspace Design Trends To Increase Your Productivity".
Monday, November 24, 2014
10 Office Design Tips to Foster Creativity
Furniture maker Turnstone toured the country's coolest firms for ideas on how to design spaces that encourages creativity and collaboration (without breaking the bank). Take a look at Inc.com's 10 Office Design Tips to Foster Creativity
Saturday, November 22, 2014
10 Cool Office Spaces
As a means of securing the best and brightest, many companies now are paying far more attention than ever before to the environment created by their work spaces. Take a look at Forbes.com list of this year’s 10 Cool Office Spaces.
Thursday, November 20, 2014
5 Steps to a Millennial-Friendly Workplace
It's OK to be hip and even a tad edgy. Just know the kegerator and bean bags aren't doing you any favors. Take a look at what Inc.com says really must be done to create a Millennial Friendly Workplace.
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
What will the office of the future look like?
Does your office consist of identikit cubicles, gray walls and strip lighting? Do you 'hot desk' in sterile bland spaces? Do you feel like you are living in Office Space? Take heart, because the office of the future may look and be very different. Read this interesting article on CNN.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
World's Coolest Offices 2014
Meet the workplaces of your dreams. Sun-splashed atriums, sprawling outdoor verandas, and cozy, color-saturated nooks are some of the hallmarks of the most remarkable offices in the world.
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Effects of Ergonomics on Employee Productivity [Infographic]
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Amazing NYC Office Interiors That Inspire and Promote Innovation
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
bfi Welcomes Michael Vedral to its Sales Team
Michael rejoins the world of office furniture after a 4-year absence, having recently worked in another industry. Prior to that however, Mike had worked at the dealer level since 1999 with American Office Furniture, Bill Behrle Associates and Business Environments, earning several sales awards along the way.
Monday, October 13, 2014
Welcome Back Steve Warshauer!
Wednesday, October 08, 2014
The Eames's "Powers Of Ten" Is Now An iPhone App
In the classic documentary Powers of Ten, Charles and Ray Eames examine the relative scale of the universe and our own place within those orders of magnitude. Powers of Ten has been so influential that it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry and has been recreated by artists and chefs. And now it's an app. Well, kind of.
Inspired by Powers of Ten, MIKMA is a work-in-progress app for iOS that allows players to explore the scale of the universe using the objects around them as a point of reference.
Created by Geneva interactive designer Nadeda Suvorova, MIKMA (the name comes from a mash-up of the words "micro" and "macro") leverages the cameras and sensors embedded in the iPhone and iPad to introduce users to the world of scientific imaging. But because of technological limitations, MIKMA doesn't work exactly the way you'd expect it to.
You point your iPhone or iPad's camera at a real-world object to zoom in or zoom out, according to what the Eameses would call the "power of ten" scale of the universe, or by orders of magnitude. But an iPad can't magnify what it's pointed at indefinitely without pixelating the image to an unusable level. So in MIKMA, the camera doesn't try to literally magnify or zoom out of what it's pointing at. Instead, MIKMA measures an object's color and luminosity, and uses those as reference points to explore a library of scientific imagery: everything from the fuzzy gray boulders of subatomic particles to the ultraviolet explosion of entire galaxies colliding.
To zoom in, you measure an object's luminosity (in other words, how dark or bright something is) with your device's camera. To zoom out, you do the same thing, but by measuring where an object's dominant color falls on the spectrum: how red or blue it is. That means that if you point MIKMA at a red shoe, it'll always show you the same thing. You can't accurately zoom in or out on an object. You can only use it as a point of reference.
As an interactive designer, Suvorova is primarily concerned with exploring new ways of showing how to interact with data. So for her, the point of the app is to use sensor data from a camera as a way of manipulating a user interface. But that doesn't mean it works, and when it comes to recreating the spirit of Powers of Ten in an interactive app, MIKMA disappoints.
Why? Because the app could fake zooming in or out on a real world object, instead of just using it for a point of reference. Zoomed out by just a single power of 10, the height of the average person is far enough away to show Earth floating in space; zoomed in, it's enough to see a single strand of DNA in crystal clarity. In other words, at a single power of 10, everything on Earth looks more or less the same. So who cares if you're actually showing a 100% accurate view of what an object looks like from a height of 12,000 feet away, or at just 5 nanometers tall? It's the scale of the thing--not its fidelity--that matters.
If you could convincingly make Powers of Ten interactive, it'd be an app that Apple would load up on every iPad by default. MIKMA is almost there--and perhaps will be when it's released on the App Store in coming months--but the app that ultimately updates Powers of Ten for the 21st century won't pull users in and out of the zooming experience. It'll make them feel like the Eames's eyeball, squinting and dilating to see the totality of creation in a single glance.
Source:
- By John Brownlee, www.fastcodesign.com
- View Original
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Take a Glimpse at The Office of Tomorrow (Video)
Take a peek at the latest trends in the Office Environment. Santa Cruz based Plantronics, makers of wireless headsets, is giving its aging facilities a complete design overhaul. The company's head of human resources, Pat Wadors, shows SmartPlanet how the new working spaces, in addition to being more tech-friendly, are also starting to create change within the company's culture.
You can see this and others on our new Office Trends webpage.
The Workplace Of The Future Is Still The Office
The future workplace may not be entirely free of office spaces and desks, but a hybrid where companies have to support of both remote and physical spaces for many of their workers.
Read Article at Forbes.com.
The 10 Most Common Workplace Anxiety Dreams
Being naked at work, getting stuck in the elevator, sleeping with a co-worker. How many of these dreams have you had? We've had at least one. Take a look at the The 10 Most Common Workplace Anxiety Dreams.
How to Keep Your Top Employees From Leaving (Infographic)
Without a good employee recognition strategy, people will feel unappreciated and build up stress.
In fact, the number 1 reason why most Americans leave their jobs is that they don’t feel appreciated . The last thing you want is to have high employee turnover because of poor employee recognition.
Here are some incredible statistics about employee recognition:
Could Having Two Workspaces Make You More Productive?
Jack Cheng, the founder of Steepster believes it does.
"The desk, the computer on top of it, the chair you sit in, and the space they comprise are all repositories for memory. But these things don't just store our memories; they store our behaviors, too. The sum of these stored behaviors is an object's habit field, and merely being around it compels our bodies and minds to act in certain ways," he writes in an in-depth post on A List Apart.
Read "Why You Should Have 2 Workspaces in Your Office" on Inc.'s website.
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Inside Google’s New York City Office: Why Your Workplace Stinks
TIME takes a look at Google's New York City headquarters complete with office-lounge slides, subway-themed conference rooms and free food. VIEW GALLERY
Why Happiness at Work Matters
Friday, August 29, 2014
Watch Charles and Ray Eames Debut Their Most Famous Chair On TV In 1956
Charles and Ray Eames were the archetypal design power couple, who each brought their own distinct kind of creative genius to the personal and professional partnership. When they visited NBC's daytime Home show in 1956 to debut their (now-iconic) eponymous lounge, Charles introduced themselves thusly: "Ray is a painter. I am an architect." Host Arlene Francis has a slightly different take: "Almost always when there is a successful man, there is a very interesting and able woman behind him."
It's a funny take on a turn of phrase that later would become a kind of feminist adage: "Behind every great man is an even greater woman." Here, however, it's clear that the common gender biases of the time kept Charles in the foreground, despite the fact that they operated as a team.
Apart from the standout sexism, this is actually a brilliant little crash course in the design ideals that drove the duo. When Charles steps forward to describe the development and evolution of their chairs leading up to the lounger's big reveal, he discusses materials, production processes, and sensibilities—toys aren't just for kids!—in a way that makes their vision feel just as clear and relevant today as it was almost 60 years ago.
Ray is relegated offscreen for the bulk of the broadcast. "She is behind the man, but terribly important," Francis explains. Terribly important indeed.
As seen on Gizmodo
Great Futures Charter School opening in Sept.
bfi is proud to have furnished this project. Great Futures, a new charter school founded by the Boys & Girls Club of Hudson County, is opening next month in the club's new facility in Downtown Jersey City. READ ARTICLE
Work has changed. Most offices haven't.
Gallery of Davis Furniture's latest products
Davis offers a wide variety of contemporary business furniture for the corporate, hospitality, healthcare, and educational environments. Their products represent some of the best award-winning designs in the industry and offer superb quality and value. As a 70-year-old, family-owned company, there is true craftsmanship that goes into every product, making available cutting edge designs that not only offer the best in function, but add quality and aesthetics to the business environment. VIEW GALLERY
Sunday, July 27, 2014
What Does Furniture Cost
What Does Furniture Cost? - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires
Friday, July 25, 2014
10 Cheap Ways to Reduce Employee Stress
Do you want to see productivity go up and costs go down? Keep your employees healthy and focused with these 10 stress busters. READ ARTICLE
Source: Inc.com
Thursday, July 24, 2014
The Future of Office Design
What’s the future of office design? We investigate how start-up culture is influencing everything from corporate campuses to contract furniture. See more about Office Environment.
Source: Dwell.com
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
30 Simply Amazing Spaces For Work
We came across this article on InteriorDesign.net. bfi was privileged to be part of one of these projects. Click on the images to read the articles and see the slideshows for each project.
VIEW SLIDE SHOW
Source: Interior Design
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
A Creative Office Space for a Creative Company
Zazzle's new modern and creative headquarters were designed by Studio O+A to reflect the company's handcrafted community and respect for artisanal values. We love the phone booths for private calling.
VIEW PHOTO GALLERY
Source - Design Milk
Monday, July 21, 2014
Press Release: Herman Miller Announces Agreement to Acquire Design Within Reach
Herman Miller Announces Agreement to Acquire Design Within Reach
July 17, 2014
Design Within Reach, Inc., founded in 1998 and headquartered in Stamford, Conn., is the source for the best in authentic modern design. The company markets and sells its furniture and accessories to both residential and trade customers through its retail Studios across North America, www.dwr.com and its Connecticut-based phone sales team.
Herman Miller’s inspiring designs, inventive technologies and strategic services help people do great things and organizations to perform at their best. The company’s award-winning products and services generated approximately $1.9 billion in revenue in fiscal 2014. A past recipient of the Smithsonian Institution's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award, Herman Miller designs can be found in the permanent collections of museums worldwide. Innovative business practices and a commitment to social responsibility have also helped establish Herman Miller as a recognized global leader. In 2013, Herman Miller again received the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s top rating in its annual Corporate Equality Index and was named among the 50 Best U.S. Manufacturers by Industry Week. Herman Miller is included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol MLHR.
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Herman Miller Living Office Now - London 2014
On 23-25 June, Herman Miller hosted over 200 dealers and Herman Miller staff from all over Europe at their Living Office Now – London 2014 event. The event was a showcase of Herman Millers Living Office story, and saw the European launch of Public Office Landscape & Locale.
Monday, July 07, 2014
Workplace of the Future
The nature of work is changing. Technology is now the backbone of all business.
Source: http://corbettvideos.com/
Mohawk: 2014 NeoCon Showroom Tour
See why the manufacturer won no less than eight awards at NeoCon this year. Chris Stulpin, creative director, Mohawk, and Cindy Allen, editor in chief, Interior Design, explore the company’s new Breaking Form collection. Video produced and edited by Yokai Films. Video sponsored by Mohawk.
Friday, July 04, 2014
Thursday, July 03, 2014
AllSeating: NeoCon 2014 Showroom Tour
Wednesday, July 02, 2014
What Makes a Cool Office?
Short answer: It's more than just a billiards table and free soda. Design buffs weigh in on how to build a creative, collaborative and innovative workspace.
Read Article
Tuesday, July 01, 2014
bfi's NeoCon 2014 Review in Photos
6 Desk Tweaks To Change The Way You Work And Maximize Your Creativity
The work you do and the office culture in which you do it are extremely important. But so too is the actual surface you work on. Here’s how thinking about your desk, its immediate environs, and your relationship to your workspace can help you become more creative. Read article.
Source: FastCompany : CoCreate
Monday, June 30, 2014
AllSeating: NeoCon 2014 Showroom Tour
Chris Binnedyk of AllSeating talks to Interior Design president Mark Strauss about emerging out of the commercial office into healthcare and higher education. Video produced and edited by Yokai Films. Video sponsored by AllSeating.
Simple and Fun Exercises You Can Do at Work
12 Exercises you can do at work during the workday. These moves were recommended by experts whose jobs involve studying motion, preventing obesity and generally getting people off their duffs. (Some look less ridiculous than others)
Read Article
Source: The Washington Post
Friday, June 27, 2014
Are you in an unhealthy office relationship?
If you spend more waking hours in your office than with your significant other, you and your workspace had better be a good match. Studies have shown that office buildings aren't benign containers but active contributors to good — or poor — health, mood and productivity.
Read Article
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Eames Molded Plastic Shell Chair – New Colors Coming Soon!
Starting July 7, 2014 all 9 colors will be available to order.
New Color Additions
- Blue Ice
- Blush
- Charcoal
- Kelly Green
- Pale Yellow
- Peacock Blue
- Stone
- Alpine
Standard Colors Available
- Aqua Sky
- Black
- Java*
- Red Orange
- Sparrow
- White
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Monday, June 09, 2014
Winners of the 2014 Best of NeoCon Competition
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The Openest Collection - Haworth. Winner of Best of Competition |
The winners of the 2014 Best of NeoCon Competition were announced Monday, June 9, at an awards breakfast hosted by Contract.
BEST OF COMPETITION
Haworth: The Openest Collection by Studio Urquiola
Designer: Patricia Urquiola
ARCHITECTURAL & DECORATIVE GLASS
Silver: 3form: Pattern+
Gold: Joel Berman Glass Studios: Plank
ARCHITECTURAL PRODUCTS
Silver: Haworth: Trivati
Silver: Atlantic Inc:. Snowsound Acoustic Panels
Gold: molo: softwall + softblock modular system
CARPET FIBER
Gold: Aquafil: ECONYL
CARPET: BROADLOOM
Silver: Milliken: Dissemblage Collection
CARPET: MODULAR
Silver: Shaw Contract Group: Design Journey: Novice & Master
Gold: Patcraft: Mixed Materials
CASE GOODS
Silver: Teknion: Journal
Gold: Haworth: Suite
COLLABORATIVE COLLECTIONS
Innovation: Clarus Glassboards: go!
Silver: Nucraft: Tesano
Gold: Haworth: The Openest Collection by Studio Urquiola
CONFERENCE ROOM FURNITURE
Silver: TUOHY Furniture Corporation: Karo Collection
Gold: Nucraft: Kai
EDUCATION SOLUTIONS
Silver: PalmerHamilton: Hive
Gold: PalmerHamilton: GO JUICE
FILES & MOBILE STORAGE SYSTEMS
Silver: JRB Studio: Straddle Ped
Gold: Inscape: Territory
FLOORING: HARD SURFACE
Silver:USF Contract: Stratum XL
Gold:Tandus: Centiva Substrate
FURNITURE SYSTEMS
Silver: HALCON: LEX
Gold: KI: Trellis
FURNITURE SYSTEMS: ENHANCEMENTS
Silver: Davies Office: Hi-Lo
Gold: Inscape: Interval+
FURNITURE: BENCHING
Silver: Knoll: Antenna Telescope
Gold: Inscape: Inscape Bench
HEALTHCARE FABRICS & TEXTILES
Innovation: CF Stinson: EnVi Nature Based Non-Wovens
Silver: Pallas Textiles: Valetudo Collection
Gold: KnollTextiles: Spirit Collection
HEALTHCARE FLOORING
Innovation: Tandus Centiva: Mixed Message Collection
Silver: Tandus Centiva: Tapis Collection
Gold: Shaw Contract Group: Collective Time
HEALTHCARE FURNITURE
Silver: Okamura: Divo
HEALTHCARE: GUEST/LOUNGE SEATING
Silver: Nemschoff / Herman Miller Healthcare: Palisade Collection
HEALTHCARE: PATIENT SEATING
Silver: Krug Inc.: Jordan Active Patient Recliner
LIGHTING: DECORATIVE
Silver: Seeyond Architectural Solutions: Seeyond Dynamic Color Mix Lighting
Gold: 3M Architectural Markets: VESSEL by 3M + Todd Bracher
LIGHTING: TASK/DESKTOP
Gold: ESI Ergonomic Solutions: Lustre
LOUNGE FURNITURE COLLECTIONS
Silver: Safco Products: Kalyde
Gold: HBF: The Triscape Collection by Todd Bracher
OFFICE ACCESSORIES
Silver: Steelcase: SOTO II Worktools
Gold: Inscape: Veil
SEATING: BENCHES
Gold: Davis Furniture: Modo
SEATING: CONFERENCE
Silver: Wilkhahn Inc.: Graph
Gold: Andreu World: Flex Corporate
SEATING: ERGONOMIC DESK/TASK
Innovation: BioFit Engineered Products: MVMT
Silver: Allsteel: Mimeo Gold: Knoll Remix Work Chair
SEATING: GUEST
Silver: Coalesse:
Gold: Knoll: The Washington Collection for Knoll
SEATING: SOFAS & LOUNGE
Silver: Bernhardt Design: Mitt
Gold: Andreu World: RAGLAN
SEATING: STACKING
Silver: Andreu World: Unos Chair
Gold: Diemmebi: laKendo
SIGNAGE & WAYFINDING
Silver: Seeyond Architectural Solutions: Seeyond Branded Facing Series
Gold: Takeform: Moxie Graphic Panels
SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGIES
Silver: Allsteel: Beyond Designer for Revit
Gold: ofcdesk: ofcdesk IDC
SURFACING MATERIALS/FINISHES
Silver: 3form: Varia Ecoresin Full Circle
Gold: 3M Architectural Markets: 3M DI-NOC Architectural Finishes
TABLES: OCCASIONAL
Silver: Davis Furniture: Match
Gold: HBF: Triscape Occasional Table
TABLES: TRAINING & WORK
Silver: Peter Pepper Products, Inc.: GoTo Worktables
Gold: BOLD Furniture: BOLD One Collection
TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT
Silver: Innovative Office Products: Tablik
Gold: ESI Ergonomic Solutions: EDGE-Evolve
TECHNOLOGY-INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS
Innovation: Presentia: PresenTable SemiPresence
Silver: OFS Brands: Eleven Sound Driver Gold: Stir Stir Kinetic Desk
TEXTILES: UPHOLSTERY
Innovation: Camira Fabrics: The Nettle Collection
Silver: KnollTextiles: Archival Collection
Gold: HBF Textiles: Elodie Blanchard Collection
WALL TREATMENTS
Silver: Concertex: NappaCraft
Silver: Skyline Design: Alexander Girard Collection
WALLS: MOVABLE
Silver: Inscape: Aria
WINDOW TREATMENTS
Silver: MechoSystems: ShadeLoc
Gold: Carnegie: Alphacoustic, Betacoustic, Gammacoustic
WORKPLACE TECHNOLOGIES
Silver: LogiSon Acoustic Network: LogiSon TARGET
Gold: FreeAxez LLC: FreeAxez Power
EDITORS' CHOICE
Steelcase: Susan Cain Quiet Spaces by Steelcase
Designtex: Designtex + Wallace Sewell
Mohawk Group: Breaking Form Collection
BuzziSpace: BuzziPicNic
Arper: ZINTA
Gunlocke: Savor
Wednesday, June 04, 2014
Moving Right Along... Is Good For You
People who sit all day are at as high a risk of back injury as those who stand all day. The key to good ergonomic health is a mix of the two. In an ideal world, you'd work standing up or moving around at least five minutes an hour.
"You can have a great chair, but we don't promote sitting all day," says Wayne Baxter of Herman Miller. "And you can have a great sit-to-stand desk, but we don't promote standing all day. It's the mixture of all the postures that makes the body happy." Watch the video above to learn more about how to move better and feel better.
See how bfi can help keep your body healthy at your job.
Tuesday, June 03, 2014
The World's Five Most Impressive Offices
Long gone are the days of cubicles, watercoolers, and bland boardrooms. Now companies rely on big screens TVs, pool tables, and massage rooms to help boost productivity. Bloomberg Ranx honors some of the world's most impressive offices. (Source: Bloomberg)
Monday, June 02, 2014
Friday, May 30, 2014
What Happens When You Let Employees Vote On An Open Office?
Microsoft's New York City office let their employees vote on an open office or cubicles. Which do you think won? Read article
Thursday, May 29, 2014
The Workspaces of Men Who Are On Their Game
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MAGE: MASHABLE, CHRISTINA ASCANI |
The fine folks at Mashable spoke with a handful of men about how they design their workspaces as reflections of their personalities and as a way to drive productivity and creativity. Check out the article, "The Workspaces of men Who Are On Their Game".
So how about you? Is your desk an extension of your home? How do you personalize your workstation where you work? Share your desk with us by posting a picture of your desk on our facebook page.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Why Your Office Environment Matters
Laura Smith, addresses this issue in her article titled, "The Mind Does Not Belong in a Cubicle". The article stats our brains have evolved to work most efficiently in natural environments. At bfi, we strive to produce a happy environment for workers. Take a minute to read the article.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Have you ever considered a height adjustable desk?
If you've been in the workplace for any period of time, you've probably heard by now that sitting all day long is not good for your health. So what can you do about this? Adjustable Standing desks are one solution that may help break up your work day to give you the flexibility your body needs to stay active and mobile throughout your day.
Office Snapshots, posted a good article titled, "7 Height-Adjustable Standing Desks That Won’t Murder You". Give it a read and be sure to give bfi a call. bfi represents more than 200 office furniture manufacturers and we have several of these height adjustable desks that we can recommend to you.
Friday, May 23, 2014
Gravity is Your Life Line
Gravity is Your Life Line
by Marilynn Preston
Gravity isn’t just the name of a movie. Gravity is also the best-kept secret for living longer, and stronger, with more energy and a lower risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes and cancer.
In the ‘90s, Dr. Joan Vernikos and her NASA space program team faced a tough medical issue: When perfectly fit astronauts go into space — a gravity-fee environment — they quickly show signs of accelerated aging. Their overall health deteriorates. Their bones weaken. Their muscles weaken. They begin to show each other pictures of their grandchildren. When the astronauts return to Earth, their strength returns, their bones stop deteriorating and fitness returns. Dr. Vernikos explains: “The lack of gravity in space wreaks havoc on the body... On Earth, gravity is our life line... it centers us and grounds us... the gravity factor is present to stimulate every cell, every nerve in our body... it etches images in our brain that tells us where we are in relation to our environment... All this rapidly disappears in space... in a gravity-free environment.”
Earthly sitting is a form of weightlessness. It brings us dangerously close to a gravity-free environment, she says, and we “sitanauts” are doing more and more of it every day, for typically eight to 10 hours, in our cars and couches, at our desks and dining tables, in front of big and small screens.
“The less we move, the less we use gravity,” she explains. Modern conveniences and technology may be making our lives easier, but our sedentary lifestyles are making us sick.
And here’s the kicker: Time in the gym, even working out three to five times a week, cannot make up for the negative results that come from disengaging with gravity.
“We’ve struggled for decades to exercise more and eat less,” says Vernikos. “We’re fatter, sicker, more tired and more out of pocket than ever. Some of us even exercise strenuously. Yet, the way we live is slowly killing us.”
Which is why she wrote a book called “Sitting Kills, Moving Heals: How Everyday Movement Will Prevent Pain, Illness, and Early Death — And Exercise Alone Won’t.” Strap on your harness and prepare for liftoff — it’s a mind-blower.
When you sit, you’re essentially disconnecting from the “life line” that is gravity. When you get up and change your position — and this is the finding that dazzled her most of all — you’re reconnecting with gravity in ways that promote health and wellness.
It’s the change of position that is most powerful and matters most, Vernikos says. “The results amazed me! Standing was more effective than walking! ”
“To reverse the damage of sedentary living,” Vernikos advises, “put gravity back in your life.”
How? Do frequent nonstrenuous activities throughout the day. Stand up every 10 to 15 minutes, bend and twist, take the stairs, wash the car, empty the dishwasher. You get the picture.
“Our bodies need perpetual motion,” says Vernikos. “The good news is that there are unlimited free opportunities for movement all around us. The key to lifelong health is more than just traditional gym exercise an hour a day, three to five days a week.
“The answer is to rediscover a lifestyle of constant, natural, low-intensity nonexercise movement that uses the gravity vector throughout the day.”
Seen on: Hi Class Living, March-April 2014, pg 75-76
Friday, May 02, 2014
17 Desk Stretches That Might Save Your Life
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
The Cubicle Turns 50
The "liberating" construction that has boxed-in office workers for a half-century (and spawned, as backlash, the utopian "open office") celebrates its Golden Jubilee, according to Men's Journal. Celebrate the cubicle's big 50 by making some office space.
Fifty years ago, in the spring of 1964, the modern office arrived in New York. Joe Schwartz, the marketing director at a small, Michigan-based home furnishing firm name Herman Miller, was erecting the world's first modular "workplace solution" in a showroom at 600 Madison Avenue while calling every architecture firm he knew. The product, developed by the eccentric polymath Robert Probst, featured a massive desk, a carrel for making phone calls, and a vertical filing system. With it's clean steel lines, the "Action Office" looked futuristic, even era-defining. Designers flocked to the showroom.
"Then nothing happened," remembers Schwartz. "We had a few orders in Canada, but the executive market was extremely hard to penetrate. It was a first attempt."
[Read the full story at Men's Journal]
Monday, April 28, 2014
The Cubicle You Call Hell Was Designed to Set You Free
Friday, April 25, 2014
8 Of Google's Craziest Offices
Google is known for its zany office designs, from stroopwafel ceilings to slides to scooters. And you thought your office's foosball table was cool. Check this out.
as seen on: www.fastcodesign.com
Thursday, April 24, 2014
"Mad Men's" Secret Weapon? Herman Miller
Great article from FastCompany on how the Zeeland, Michigan, furniture company helps Mad Men set decorator Claudette Didul-Mann get the details right. Read Article.
Seen on : fastcodesign.com
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Do your surrounding affect the way you work?
A comfortable work chair, a desk, and technology all have a great impact on our experience of work. But what about the surrounding details? Can artwork, architecture, and even the aroma help us do our best work? Remodelista’s Editor-in-Chief Julie Carlson thinks so. http://ow.ly/vwvUk
Monday, April 21, 2014
My Year At A Standing Desk And Why I'll Never Go Back
credit: www.fastcompany.com
Monday, April 14, 2014
bfi Furnishes LVMH- Givenchy & Céline Divisions
READ MORE
Thursday, April 03, 2014
Throwback Thursday
An old ad for Herman Miller's Eames Lounge Chair & Ottoman, a modern classic that is still available today.
Tuesday, April 01, 2014
bfi Furnishes Panasonic's new Newark NJ Headquarters
bfi worked with architect firm HLW to furnish Panasonic's new Newark NJ headquarters. This 273,500 sq ft facility is home to 1,280 employees. Check out some great photos on the architect's website.
http://www.hlw.com/panasonic/
Sunday, March 30, 2014
This is one cool office you must see!
New York-based creative agency Barbarian Group has unveiled a brand new "superdesk" in their office. Made out of 4,400 square feet of plywood, the desk is so large that the entire company — all 125 employees — can share it.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/giant-curvy-desk-2014-2#ixzz2xHIypFsS
Seen on: http://www.businessinsider.com/