Hermann Miller
Trend: Rethinking the Workplace
In the age of telecommuting, creative companies are reinventing the office to entice employees to work together face-to-face. The Googleplex, Google's Mountain View (Calif.) HQ, features a series of solid, transparent "tents" made of acrylic that offer coveted personal space as well as a sense of, well, transparency. Legendary furniture designer Douglas Ball recently remade the standard office cubicle for Herman Miller. Called My Studio Environments, the system features translucent walls and doors to offer both privacy and openness. A Swedish company, Offecct, has the most radical solution to the generic cubicle: The Cloud, a self-inflating, 215-square-foot fabric bubble, targeted at corporate users seeking an alternative to conference rooms.