Book dossier

Space meets status

by Jacqueline Vischer

"This book deals with the problems that are created when employers try to decrease the size of individual offices and workstations in order to increase work efficiency. Employees, who often regard their workspace as a "home from home", a retreat and a space that symbolizes their status and marks their territory feel threatened by this attempt to shrink "their" room. Jacqueline Vischer summarizes significant research findings on office-space design and behavior from fields such as environmental psychology, architecture and interior design, employing terms that are accessible and interesting to practicing designers as well as business managers. Examples and case studies illustrate how space is a corporate resource, and how companies can improve their design decisions. The book also examines the practical aspects of planning workspace for users. Worker productivity and stress levels are affected by lighting, ventilation, temperature, noise, and furniture layout. This book takes a new approach by showing howthe technical aspects of human comfort in terms of building systems does not always tally with users' perceptions and behavior. By understanding more about how these factors affect work performance, corporate managers and design professionals can plan, design and manage the layout of the work environment more effectively."--Publisher's description.