One of the things that I remember very vividly from my childhood and now sorely miss in the hi-tech city life is lying on the roof under an open sky and gazing at the stars. The sky used to appear like a huge black velvet screen with diamond-like stars pierced in it. And whenever one of those stars was dislodged from its positions and started a freefall, immediately I would in my mind repeat all my wishes, for I had heard that wishes made by looking at a falling star often came true. I do not recount how many of those wishes came true but that open sky, the vastness and the open airy feeling is definitely not coming true anymore. The high-rise concrete and the haze caused by the gallons of smoke bellowing from all machines of man have blocked the view. I am not complaining as I have chosen this life myself and enjoy it’s trappings like no other, but there is something about open skies that draws us closer. The clear blue skies with cotton-like clouds sailing over our heads, the misty sky during the winters dropping dew drops from nowhere, the pouring sky during monsoons drenching us with contentment and at times the still-sky where nothing seems to change position yet time passes with its speed. There is an excitement, adventure, romanticism with an element of vulnerability under the open sky that I have always loved and liked.
Perhaps to recreate this feeling of spaciousness and freedom that people generally feel under the open sky, a German company has come up with a dynamic luminous ceiling system for offices that can make workers feel as though they are working under the open sky. ‘As the wind swiftly blows clouds across the sky, the light is in a constant state of change.' The researchers from the Stuttgart-based Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO replicate the luminous ceiling indoors by using a combination of red, blue, green and white LEDs in order to produce the full spectrum. This combination makes it possible to generate more than 16 million hues. Preliminary studies indicate that users (employees) have found the lighting to be extremely pleasant.
Workplaces are drastically altering and the contemporary workplace design place emphasis on engaging the employees by creating a feeling of informality, spaciousness and freedom, much contrast to what offices have traditionally meant – claustrophobic cubicles, boring interiors and formal curbs. Organizations are realizing hat to unlock the true potential and creativity in employees, the workplace design and environment plays a significant role.
In June 2011, the late Steve Jobs announced Apple’s plan to build a new building that shall look like a spaceship and could house 12000 people. Amazing design with 80% of the area under landscaping, 6000 trees, modern amenities, clean energy and much more. In the video (link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2do9-wauI98 ), the late jobs takes you through his dream that he planned to make a reality by 2015.
May be one day, the workplaces shall come with customized & dynamic wall-papers, sky-shots, climate-preference switches and more, recreating a place that we cherish… Too much of a dream?
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