With the advent of modern technology, the space reserved for office use has been greatly reduced. After years of neglect, the sector of office design is discovering its new identity: landscape artistry of the micro-office.

The economic crisis currently strangling many countries world-wide has resulted in considerable losses in the area of furniture design, particular in the of office furnishings sector. The larger firms are holding out for better times before undertaking any aesthetic improvements. They are reducing and streamling instead, cutting costs and seeking to optimalize use of smaller areas. There is likely another motive behind this trend towards rationalization. The advent of modern information technology, in a very short time, has upended planning concepts of work and the working environment.

A case in point: In 1977, an enterprise with an annual turnover of $100,000 needed a supporting staff of 4-5 employees with an office space of at least 150 sq.m. Today, a business of the same dimensions can be efficiently run by a staff of three occupying 60 sq.m.

Surely the developments of the next twenty years will result in a staff of one, requiring a workspace of just a few meters in his or her own home. Software is continually improving, steadily more sophisticated. The modem, Internet and other technical developments have banished the once inescapable mountains of paperwork (document files, archives and considerable labor as well) from modern offices.

Offices with a more domestic look

This is not quite the defeat it would seem. In terms of office design culture, the sector has had to keep pace with the times, working towards redefined standards. Their efforts resulted in the discreet developments exhibited at the last Salone Del Mobile in Milano.

The IV Segmento workstation by Nilo Gioacchini is an island for up to three wokers which can be divided by panels.

Castelli, the prominent Italian manufacturers, are keeping an eye out for new forms and materials for their lines of work station furnishings.

Among evident trends, we see an increasingly homey office environment, with chairs ans shelves reminiscent of household furnishings. At the same time, much attention has been paid to furniture designed for home offices. These are true micro-offices, equipped for computer, modem and any other neccessary modern technical aids.

Ideal Ford Team has brought out Sito Office, a furnishing unit which consists of two panels fully outfitted for a multitude of functions. The physical configuration of Sito allows it to be set up in the middle of an area, thus serving as a divider.