Haworth New Office Furniture System: The Non-Modularity Theorem

01/01/1986

Article Draft

A draft of an unpublished article where, the argument that “All office configurations which are necessary for human comfort and efficient work can be produced, to within a reasonable and acceptable tolerance, by combinations of available modular elements” is proven to be wrong.

Authors:

Christopher Alexander, Center for Environmental Structure, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

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Content of

Article

The Non-Modularity Theorem 01/01/1986

Paper

Authors:

Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Gary Black

Publisher:

Center for Environmental Structure, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

References

Projects

New System of Office Furniture for Haworth, Inc. 1985 to 1986

Holland, MI, U.S.A.

Office Furniture, Designed , Furniture prototypes built by C.E.S.

Client:

Haworth Manufacturing, Inc. - Tom Hench

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Gary Black, Mark Brinner

Design and construction process:

Theree design principles guided the development of the project: 1) Layout of the personal work space by their users in order to meet their own personal needs; this process is achievable through the use of a computer program developed at C.E.S. which carries a worker through the design process. 2) Use of flexible manufacturing techniques, which allow individualisation of each piece of furniture, without increasing costs; the purpose of this feature is to eliminate the modularity that is part and parcel of current systems. 3) The basis of design is the real human needs and desires, not on the latest trend.

Project stages:

Pattern language for project by C.E.S. Generic rules for office layout process Use of full scale mock-ups Fabrication of full size furniture prototypes by C.E.S. Design Development drawings done after fabrication

The new system of office furniture, intended for mass production, was designed in such a way as to be capable of creating the environment for millions of workers, in an endless variety of specific configurations. The line of furniture provided ...