Haworth Debuts Craft, New Products at Orgatec
Global office furniture manufacturer Haworth has come away from Orgatec 2014 (held from 21 to 25 October in Cologne) with glowing reviews at what is considered to be Europe's leading international office furniture fair.
COLOGNE, GERMANY - October 25, 2014 - Global office furniture manufacturer Haworth has come away from Orgatec 2014 (held from 21 to 25 October in Cologne) with glowing reviews at what is considered to be Europe’s leading international office furniture fair.
From the new product line-up to the booth design, the response from industry media and fair attendees was overwhelmingly positive. “We are extremely pleased with the response at Orgatec. The number of people visiting our stand each day was enormous and we have made several extremely valuable contacts”, said Henning Figge, Vice President of Haworth Europe.
Haworth chose Orgatec, considered to be Europe’s premiere office furniture fair, to debut “The Craft of Spacemaking” - a concept borne out of collaborations between the company and various partners from the worlds of both science and design.
“New scientific understandings of the working environment are opening up new vistas on design for us”, explains company Chairman Matthew Haworth.
Over the last five years, Haworth has been working together with such internationally renowned academic institutions as the Royal College of Arts (RCA) in London and the Fraunhofer Institute of Labour Economics and Organisation (IAO). The principal idea of “Spacemaking” draws upon the findings from these collaborative studies, concluding that the key to an optimal workplace lies in capturing its characteristic atmosphere – an atmosphere that is created by the interaction of certain critical factors
“We believe that you can change a company’s working methods by altering the balance of certain factors, such as privacy, openness, concentration, and an open communication culture. Obviously, office furniture still needs to be practical, user-friendly and comfortable; however, the atmosphere created when you combine these key factors plays an equally important role,’ asserts Mr. Figge. ‘A pleasant working environment and emotionally-charged design can promote employee creativity and performance.’”
Openest, one of the key product innovations introduced at Orgatec, in addition to the seating series Dynamo and customisable workplace solution YourPlace, takes into account many of these insights. Designed by Patricia Urquiola, Openest’s modular series emerged as part of a two and a half year collaboration with Haworth. Ms Urquiola has said she finds it exciting to see people from different continents inspire each other and engage with an idea at the same time. She was also responsible for Haworth’s both design at Orgatec, where her vision of a future working environment that is inviting, comfortable, and inspiring became a reality.
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Haworth believes great spaces empower people to thrive and work their best. As a leading global furniture maker, the company partners with customers, dealers and influencers to create spaces that result in effective people and efficient real estate. Haworth’s customer-first approach comes from an entrepreneurial spirit, design-forward thinking and multicultural perspectives. With a heritage in the workplace, Haworth is the founding brand of Haworth Group. The Haworth Group designs at the intersection of people and environments with brands like Haworth, AIS, BuzziSpace, Cappellini, Cassina, Ceccotti Collezioni, Heller, Hushoffice, Interni, JANUS et Cie, Karakter, Luminaire, Luxury Living Group, Poltrona Frau, Tayco, Tuohy and Zanotta.
Founded in 1948, Haworth Group is a privately-owned company operating in more than 150 countries through a global network of 400 dealers and 8,000 employees. Headquartered in Holland, Michigan, U.S.A., the company has sales of $2.7 billion USD.