E X T R E M I S TA

WWW.EXTREMIS.BE

ISSUE#9ORGATEC14

THE OFFICIAL EXTREMISDESIGN, LIFESTYLE, FUN

& TRENDS JOURNAL

tools for togetherness

2 WORK HARD, PLAY HARD4 BRAND NEW: PANTAGRUEL, SON OF GARGANTUA 6 EXTREMIS BREAK-OUT TOOLS FOR TOGETHERNESS7 BREAK-OUT TOOLS AROUND THE WORLD8 MARINA & CAPTAIN’S CHAIRS RANGES EXPANDED

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WORK HARDOUR TOOLS FOR TOGETHERNESS HAVE BEEN VERY POPULAR ON BOTH THE RESIDENTIAL AND THE CONTRACT MARKET. GIVE YOUR OFFICE SPACE A HOMELY FEEL, WE HAVE LEARNED AT EXTREMIS, AND NOW A HANDFUL

OF BIG NAMES LIKE GOOGLE AND APPLE ARE USING OUR TOOLS FOR TOGETHERNESS TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN. AND GOOGLE HAS CONVERTED THE IDEA INTO SPECIFIC GUIDELINES FOR ITS WORKPLACES. EVEN MORE THAN

THAT, GOOGLE SEES WORKPLACE DESIGN AS A SCIENCE IN ITSELF.

AT GOOGLE’S OFFICES

[ excerpt from “Inside Google’s Culture of Success and Employee Happiness”by Zach Bulygo for KISSmetrics ]

Human resources, or People Operations, is a science at Google. They’re always testing to find ways to optimize their people, both in terms of happiness and performance. In fact, almost everything Google does is based on data. So it should come as no surprise that Google uses all sorts of data to gauge employees and improve their productivity. Prasad Setty and his People Analytics team at Google have come up with instructions for the lunch tables, for example: If you want employees to meet each other,

make the tables long. This will expose them to more people who they can get to know. (Extremis offers tables up to 12m!)

Diner Booths v. Conference Rooms: Laszlo and his team have found that diner booths work better than confer-ence rooms for facilitating creativity. David Radcliffe, the man in charge of creating the perfect work environ-ment, says that: “Casual collisions are what we try and create in the work environment. You can’t schedule innovation, you can’t schedule idea generation and so when we think up our facilities around the world we’re really looking for little opportunities for engineers or for creative people to come together.”

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MEET PANTAGRUEL, SON OF GARGANTUA

Gargantua © table + Inumbra © shade

Pantagruel © table + Inumbra shade

Gargantua and Pantagruel are the most famous giants in European literature. Large, strong, high-spirited, intelligent, progressive and crazy about the good things in life; this is how we get to know father and son in the books of François Rabelais. In 1994, Dirk Wynants drew inspiration from Rabelais when designing the iconic garden table Gargantua: a strong and sustainable piece of furniture at which people can enjoy good weather, good meals and good conversations together. Dirk

Wynants’ design firm, Extremis, was created together with Gargantua. Now, exactly twenty years later, Wynants is celebrat-ing this anniversary with the de-sign Pantagruel. A chip off the old block. Pantagruel is robust, elegant and sober. The table top with lazy Susan, a rotating tray for delicacies, brings people of all ages together and makes it easy for them. A tool for togeth-erness, convenient for convivial-ity, which one can pass on to the next generations, including the good memories.

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PA NTAG R U EL© ON TH E SP OT

Arts Festival, Watou

Pantagruel + Inumbra parasol at Mastouche summer bar, Ghent

The rotating disk in the center, made visible at Maurice, Antwerp

PANTAGRUEL HAS ONLY BEEN ON THE MARKET FOR A FEW MONTHS SO WE WERE VERY CURIOUS TO KNOW HOW OUR BABIES WERE DOING OUT THERE IN THE WILD. THIS IS HOW WE FOUND THEM, IN USE AS PUBLIC CITY FURNITURE, AS BAR FURNITURE, AT A RURAL BED & BREAKFAST AND IN A MEETING ROOM.

Bed & breakfast lodge ‘Blauwpoort’ has a seminar room in an old barn. They play ‘spin the bottle’ here as a teambuilding activity. With or without the stripping.

Pancakes and blowing bubbles at the Weeuwhof, a former beguinage, Poperinge

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BREAK-OUT FURNITURE: A CONCEPT WE USUALLY REFER TO AS “OFFICE SWEETENERS” OR TRANSLATED FREELY: PRODUCTS THAT ADD FUN TO THE WORKPLACE OR RADICALLY BREAK WITH THE TRADITIONAL CONCEPTION THAT

OFFICES ARE BORING PLACES.

EXTREMIS’ BREAK-OUT TOOLS FOR TOGETHERNESS

MARINA© OFFICE One range fits all. This multipurpose piece of furniture with infinitely extendible profiles makes the perfect picnic table in every way. Combine them indoors, outdoors, for your desk, in meeting rooms, in the kitchen. That is demonstrated with verve at the Extremis stand. A gigantic Marina table cuts across different zones (a garden zone, living zone and office zone), changing effortlessly as it goes from a pleasant outdoor furnishing with benches into an ideal dining table with comfortable Captain’s chairs. Even more persuasive is the transition to a super-wide office desk, thanks to doubled-up profiles, including storage and computer screens.

STICKS©

This space divider is ideal for creating a feeling of privacy without losing the sense of freedom typical of open spaces. You can however also use it indoors to adapt a room’s look or arrangement entirely to your own taste. With Sticks you can create your own space over and over again.

At the Extremis offices, we have always used them between our desks, and we’re so happy to see them pop up in many office spaces of the world’s most innovative companies.

KOSMOS©

If you like more intimate settings, Kosmos might be just the thing for you. The extra high backrest creates a special kind of togetherness; it is not only ideal for young people who want some privacy or for friends who like to keep things cosy, but also for efficient business meetings, peaceful working time, or any intimate conversation. Kosmos is a universe of its own, even between the office walls, you can escape from the office stress for a moment.

HOPPER©

Add some Hoppers to your premises. Hopper clearly bears resemblance to the traditional picnic tables everybody knows, but as is typical of Extremis it offers extra comfort. The four pass- through zones make it easy to get in and out of Hopper without having to lift your leg over the bench or disturbing your table companions. If you turn around, you can use the tabletop as a comfortable backrest.

Hopper is a tool for togetherness, inspired by the long rows of tables and benches at hops harvest and beer festivals. Hopper also invites your employees to engage in the conversation.

Hopper at Google’s headquarters, Zurich

INSTAMUTE©

No phone! No e-mail! No tweets! No text messages! No Wifi!

Make sure everyone is focused during meetings, teambuilding sessions, workshops,...

Give your smartphone a moment’s rest under the “Instamute” dome. No ringing, no text messages, no Facebook updates… Because once you put your smartphone under the dome, it does not receive any signals anymore. By briefly banning the digital aliases from its tools for togetherness, Extremis wants to encourage people to get together and talk in a convivial atmosphere.

COLOPHON

All images, ideas, designs and design content are the intellectual property of Extremis and may not be copied, imitated or used, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of Extremis.© extremis 2014

PUBLISHER

ExtremisCouthoflaan 20 b8972 Poperingewww.extremis.be

DESIGN

Bram CoudijzerSteve Reynders

EDITORIAL OFFICE

Dirk Wynants Design WorksWatouseweg 48970 Poperingewww.dwdw.be

COVER PHOTOGR APHY

Studio DSP

PHOTOGR APHY

Bram CoudijzerDirk WynantsEric LaignelHilde VerbekeJoost DemuynckPhotographilStudio DSPThomas Switn SweertvaegherVerne Photography

EXTREMISTA

Issue 09 - 2014

Extremis + Rivistathe official Extremis journal

Distributed in over 40 countries

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Dirk Wynants Design Works - China office in the DETAO building, Shanghai

Hudson Rouge, a communication agency with a nice view, and a nice terrace, New York

B R E A K- OU T TOOLS A R OUND TH E WO R LD

Add some Hoppers in front pt.1: at Gstar headquarters, Rotterdam

Add some Hoppers in front pt.2: Google’s headquarters, London

Abachus© at Charles De Gaulle Airport, Paris

Gargantua© at Schiphol Airport, AmsterdamTransPort is the head office of transavia.com and Martinair in Schiphol-East. This sustainable building was designed by Architectenbureau Paul de Ruiter, with a clear focus on its users and has an optimum communicative image and interaction with its surroundings. It is the first building in the Netherlands to gain LEED Platinum.

Sticks at the Volkswagen - Audi offices, Spain

Add some Hoppers in front pt.3: Credit Suisse, Zurich

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MARINA & CAPTAIN’S

CHAIRS

Arthur© table and Captain’s ‘Woody’ Chairs© at the Arts Festival, Watou

A surf club fully equipped with Extremis’ tools for togetherness: Marina©, Gargantua©, Inumbra© and Hopper©: Twins Club, Bredene

RANGES EXTENDED!

Marina Desk

Captain’s High Chairs©

Captain’s High & Sled Chairs© at B&B Blauwpoort, Westouter

Captain’s Chair© Cushion

Marina© OfficeAccessories

Marina High Table©

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