Open Plan: A Design History of the American Office - Couverture souple

Kaufmann-Buhler, Jennifer

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1350044733 ISBN 13 : 9781350044739

Editeur : Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2021

Synopsis

Originally inspired by a progressive vision of a working environment without walls or hierarchies, the open plan office has since come to be associated with some of the most dehumanizing and alienating aspects of the modern office. Author Jennifer Kaufmann-Buhler traces the history and evolution of the American open plan from the brightly-colored office landscapes of the 1960s and 1970s to the monochromatic cubicles of the 1980s and 1990s, analyzing it both as a design concept promoted by architects, designers, and furniture manufacturers, and as a real work space inhabited by organizations and used by workers.

The thematically structured chapters each focus on an attribute of the open plan to highlight the ideals embedded in the original design concept and the numerous technical, material, spatial, and social problems that emerged as it became a mainstream office design widely used in public and private organizations across the United States. Kaufmann-Buhler's fascinating new book weaves together a variety of voices, perspectives, and examples to capture the tensions embedded in the open plan concept and to unravel the assumptions, expectations, and inequities at its core.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Jennifer Kaufmann-Buhler is Associate Professor of Design History at Purdue University, USA. She is a design historian focusing on American interiors, technology, and furniture design of the 20th century. Her research includes an emphasis on studying mundane spaces and objects as a way of examining the role of design in everyday life, looking at the intersection of the social, technological, and political aspects of design. She has published articles in the Journal of Design History and Design and Culture, is the author of Open Plan (Bloomsbury, 2021) and co-edited Design History Beyond the Canon (Bloomsbury, 2019).

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
• Date d'édition: 2021
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1350044733
• ISBN 13: 9781350044739
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 216
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible