The work-from-home revolution has fast-forwarded in 2020, leaving large-scale employers question the need to continue to invest in centralized office spaces. But rather than see this past year as a sign that the era of the office is over, it’s an opportunity to take a look at what has been preventing it from reaching its full potential. The January/February issue of Frame outlines what the future office must be if it is, ultimately, to remain relevant.

Reporting From
William Richards looks at two Washingtons after gentrification’s first wave of change. Lukas Feireiss asks to what degree the German capital is both a benefiter and prisoner of its own myth and cliché – and what Berlin can learn from its past, for its future.

Business of Design
How hotels can become the centre of their communities. Why vending machines are experiencing a retail renaissance. How ‘schoolcations’ could transform luxury hospitality. How the pandemic helped interior designers correct their course. And: what it takes to build a net-zero interior.

In Practice
Mariana Schmidt and André Pepato, cofounders of São Paulo studio MNMA, talk about why they purposefully create ‘unfinished’ projects. Hong-Kong based William Lim of architecture firm CL3 shares how Covid-19 has shifted his focus towards health and the environment. Ekene Ijeoma, Nigerian-American artist and founder of MIT Media Lab’s Poetic Justice group, explains how he draws on data and lived experience to explore social inequality through his multimedia works. Plus, Laura Lee, CEO of the Maggie’s cancer support centres, explains why architectural briefs should prioritize feeling over function.

Spaces
Semiotics agency Axis Mundi looks at how brick is being used across a range of spaces to revive both ancient and modern traditions. What’s more, we explore how live performances look in (extended) reality; how churches prioritize community over communion; how a cruise ship targets a younger, experience-driven generation; and why a car dealership focuses on membership, not dealership.

Work Lab
Challenged by the remote-working experiment of 2020, we asked global thought leaders if there’s still a future for the good-old hub office. Based on their visions, we lay out what a more resilient, responsive and responsible workplace might look like.

The Challenge: the Office of Tomorrow
In the lead-up to each issue, we challenge emerging designers to respond to the Frame Lab theme with a forward-looking concept. The past year has shed new light on the role of the office, prompting those who use one to reconsider its relevance. There are lessons to be found in not just the pandemic period, but the time before that. What were workplaces missing? What has working from home taught us? What would make us want to go back to the physical office? We asked four creative practices to share their ideas.

Market
Flexible furnishings for the home, office and more. Top picks from Milano Design City. Why carpeting is important. How to design for dementia.  

Reporting From
In the aftermath of the recent devastating explosion in Beirut, Christele Harrouk explains the actual groundwork taking place and questions how the future might look for the city and its inhabitants. Over in São Paulo, Silvia Albertini suggests we all take inspiration from the creatives reacting to Brazilian officials’ hate speech with inclusive – and even loving – actions.

Business of Design
How the pandemic may help rather than hinder co-living. What the ‘decade of the home’ means for residential design.       Why the turn towards fulfilment is overwhelming retail space. How telemedicine will transform both home and hospital. And: Why office furniture may soon cost a lot more.

In Practice
Spanish designer and artist Lucas Muñoz explains what it means to design by demolition, how to apply ex-situ wisdom to in-situ resources, and why sustainability should not be measured, but thoroughly understood. Part of Ikea’s internal design team, New Delhi-based Akanksha Deo Sharma shares how the Covid-19 crisis has impacted her philosophy as a democratic designer, what she’s learned from working on community-building projects, and her advice for fellow young designers looking to make an impact. From her home base in Princeton, Venezuelan-born American architect and educator Mónica Ponce De León explains how balancing theory and practice can yield richer results, why she’s fighting the stereotype that community projects should have a certain look, and how digital technologies can help to democratize design. Plus, Uniqlo’s Takahiro Kinoshita explains why stores don’t need to be just for shopping, how to build social media into a physical retail space, and why sometimes you should hold on to history.

Spaces
Semiotics agency Axis Mundi looks at how exposed infrastructure in retail spaces is a resourceful response in unstable times. What’s more, we explore Burberry’s precedent-setting phygital retail, spaces that make insects more palatable, Tokyo’s bid to revitalize public restrooms, and how the rise in cycling is affecting spatial design.

Education Lab
The classical economics term ‘creative destruction’ has come back in vogue in 2020, attempting to find small slivers of silver linings in the giant storm cloud that is the global pandemic. From this perspective, 2020 may not be an unmitigated disaster for our educational institutions, but rather a short-term shock that could produce long-term gains. The unprecedented disruptions schools around the globe have faced during this time may actually catalyse underlying trends that were bubbling away in the background, meaning that we’ll reach a more equitable, innovative and productive future model sooner than we would have without it.

The Challenge: Post-Pandemic Schooling
In the lead-up to each issue, we challenge emerging designers to respond to the Frame Lab theme with a forward-looking concept. While most governments are keen for educational facilities to reopen – both to aid parents’ return to work and to avoid a generation of learners falling behind – others are more cautious. But whether we will enter the age of at-home learning or revive the physical classroom, schooling will need to adapt to ‘the new normal’, meeting both social and safety needs. How? We asked three creative practices to share their ideas.

The regular feature What I’ve Learned in Frame magazine opens the door for readers to discover more about their favourite designers and architects. In candid interviews, these individuals reflect on the path their careers have taken them and the industry at large, offering the reader the possibility to take a shortcut and learn from their experiences.

Revisiting a selection of these interviews for compilation into this new book, What I’ve Learned includes new material and further insights. The book also features the most important projects or products with which these established creatives made their name, but in a personal way, with the intricacies of real-life woven in.

The creative conversations illustrated in this title demonstrate the strengths and inspirational vision of personalities such as Tadao Ando, Jaime Hayon, Hella Jongerius, Daniel Libeskind, Bernard Tschumi and Patricia Urquiola.

Features
• What I’ve Learned is based on the eponymous section in Frame magazine.
• Established designers and architects reflect on their lives, careers and the industry, with their stories presented in the first person.
• The book shows not just portraits of the creatives but also an overview of their best work, and the challenges they face.
• Featured are personalities such as Tadao Ando, Jaime Hayon, Hella Jongerius, Daniel Libeskind, Bernard Tschumi and Patricia Urquiola.

Publication details
Release date: 20 March 2018
Frame
English
Written by Izabela Anna Moren, Penny Craswell, Lilia Glanzmann, Tim Groen, Leo Gullbring, Kanae Hasegawa, Matthew Hurst, Jeroen Junte, David Keuning, Floor Kuitert, Melanie Mendelewitsch, Enya Moore, Shonquis Moreno, Jeannette Petrik, Jill Diane Pope, Anna Sansom, Monica Zerboni
Graphic design by Zoe Bar-Pereg (Frame Publishers)
200 x 265 mm
248 pages / full colour / soft cover
ISBN 978-94-92311-26-9