Virtual & Real

Information technology and its devices have become important tools for various kinds of office work. They are now widely accepted tools to process, communicate and simulate a diverse range of information. How do tools such as personal computers and e-mails become integrated into our workstyle and office environment in an era, in which they have become indispensable? How do virtual tools and spaces influence those of the real?


 
IDEO, Palo Alto, USA
People Travel, Information Travels
The amount of information constantly trafficking on the Internet is huge. EXCITE Inc. gathers and transmits it to customers. A forerunner in the field of portal business, EXCITE Inc. was founded by six college students in 1994. Since then it expanded rapidly, now employing 230 workers and still in the process of expansion. EXCITE's new office features the "home page" space designed to integrate new comers with diverse capabilities and personalities who have been recruited with a short span of time. There people and information are constantly on the run.
 
EXCITE / Redwood City, California, USA
The central platform draws peo ple like "home-page."
The High Tech Company Uses Low Tech Tools,too
SILICON GRAPHICS, Inc., founded in 1982 in Mountain View, California, has been a world leader in the field of interactive 3D graphics since it developed the IRIS 1000, the first 3Dfraphics terminal in the world. The Amphi Theatre Technology Center, built in 1997 with innovative schemes to facilitate communication and geographical orientation, now serves as a core symbol of the new SGI corporate culture.
 
SILICON GRAPHICS / Mountain View, California, USA
White-board-tabletops are always in use.

Growing Up With Silicon Valley
Founded in 1985 with APPLE COMPUTER as its first client, STUDIOS is an architectural design firm which has grown hand in hand with high-tech companies in Silicon Valley. The offices of EXCITE and SILICON GRAPHICS, featured in this issue, were designed by them. The following is the report on how work is done at STUDIOS ARCHITECTURE, their design philosophy and future goals, along with the offices designed by them.
 
STUDIOS ARCHITECTURE / California, USA
The column shows the memory of the building.

Think Big, Act Small
IDEO was established in 1991 and since then it has developed more than 3,000 products including the first Apple computer mouse. Their products range from an old-fashioned looking toothbrush to state-of-the-art medical equipment. There is no boundary to the range of products they design and develop. That is the philosophy of IDEO and it is supported by an organizational structure based on small multidisciplinary project teams.
 
IDEO / Palo Alto, California, USA
Various ideas are posted everywhere.
IDEO / San Francisco, California, USA

Seamless Collaboration with Networked Partners
A small office housing only 15 workers. However, it is where various breakthrough products and services are created , ranging from information and medical equipment to sports goods. The sources of such powerful creation are the workstyle based on face-to-face communication and the close collaboration with outside partners using virtual tools.
 
DESIGN CONTINUUM
Face-to-face interactive teamwork.