As technology liberates us from the traditional office and blurs the boundaries between spaces for jobs and recreation, no one knows what the future workplace will be. To spark a conversation among designers about potential, creative, unorthodox scenarios, Toronto’s Quadrangle curated and designed GOAWAY!, a special feature exhibition at IIDEXCanada 2015.
GOAWAY! is a multisensory, immersive experience that brought together furniture by leading workplace manufacturers—Steelcase, Haworth, Keilhauer and Teknion, as well as pieces by Vitra and Framery—with an on-site DJ from BELLOSOUND, and custom scents by Tracy Pepe, of Nose Knows Design. The expert team created, through sight, scent, sound and interaction, four atmospheric backgrounds that transported visitors to varied settings that explored the potential for a diversity of places to influence, improve and inspire richer work settings.
Quadrangle designed the installation to lead visitors on an exploratory and dynamic journey. Visitors entered the space through a compression corridor where didactic quotes about work oriented the experience. The corridor opened to a central interior space divided into four vignettes representing four unconventional work settings. Backlit photography illustrated the different scenarios, and a selection of furniture that changed twice daily showcased the possibilities of both private and public spaces hosting workers from all avenues of life.
The workplace of the future, GOAWAY! was hidden in plain sight by a mirrored mylar wall reflecting everything that is going on around it. Show visitors were encouraged to actively use the space and furnishings to hold meetings, relax or respond to emails as they tested out the workplace of the future.