Sometimes in a professional office environment, you’re gonna have to forgo Gchat for a minute and communicate with a colleague in person. So you get up. You wander over. Now what? You could hover awkwardly behind them. You could pull up a chair. Or you could ask them politely to split their seat in half and sit so near that you’re definitely going to be gently grazing body parts.
Hi. Hey, come here! I have something very important to discuss with you.
This is the thesis for industrial design student Alexander Bennet’s Invitation Chair, presented as part of the RIT Metaproject initiative with Herman Miller.
Now, my first reaction was: “Cool! That seems like a neat way to have a quick little chat about something, potentially while looking at a screen, and then also maybe discussing what is on that screen.” But I work from home and have all but forgotten what it’s like to blog or use a computer in any kind of physical proximity to other humans.
Because, well: This thing encourages close — like really, really close — collaboration. More intimate than a cramped subway ride. A potential HR nightmare, as evidenced by the insightful words of one particularly poetic Giz staffer: “invitation chair for butt touchin”.
What say you? Would spreading open this piece of furniture help you get down to business with a pal, or distract you completely with unnecessary human contact? [SwissMiss]