The Medici Chair: Tradition Meets Technology

Sizeable and sculptural, Konstantin Grcic’s Medici Chair is a love song to wood — the raw material, the woodworking process, and the craftsmen who transform the material into something both beautiful and useful. Grcic, who first trained as a cabinet-maker, found inspiration for the piece on the factory floor of manufacturer Mattiazzi, where traditional woodworking techniques meet the newest digital production technologies. His approach from the start: use only three-quarter-inch planks throughout — a reminder of the beginning of the production process, when a tree trunk is cut into slices. The result is a visible, easy-to-read structure that uniquely expresses the distinct characteristics of wood.

A contemporary interpretation of the classic Adirondack chair, the outdoor version of this semi-reclined design uses thermo-oiled ash, a finish that employs a new process of heat-treating and hand-oiling to seal the wood and keep it moisture-resistant. Get it just in time for the new spring season at the Herman Miller store.

Apps for Working Outside or On the Go

Whether you’re a road warrior or someone who prefers to take your work outside, you’ll appreciate these apps that help you get work done on both the iPad and Android, as reviewed by Joelle Alcaidinho (a former Playlister) from Apartment Therapy Tech. Read more

Setting Up Office Outdoors: The Art of Less

With all this extra daylight and our now-official “spring season” status, we are admittedly spending more of our time in the office wishing we were outside instead of in. So we had an idea: this year, let’s really make it happen and brave a few workdays in the Great Outdoors.

We started, therefore, where we always do: with a checklist. The goal was to create a comprehensive listing of everything needed to make an outside “office” as suitable as an indoor one. It began, of course, with the obvious (mobile or home Wi-Fi, laptop, notebook/pen combo). But a few hours and a hundred Google searches later, the list got long—and out of control (noise-reducing headphones! Anti-glare filters! Laptop cooling pads! Paperweights!). Overwhelmed and suddenly intimidated by the idea of our laptop being subjected for even a mere moment to the springtime sunshine, we turned to Joey Roth for a reality check. The industrial designer knows a thing or two about taking work outside, spending a lot of his time designing projects in the bamboo-lined backyard of his Los Angeles home. Read more

Working Outdoors

Those back to school ads on TV keep reminding us that summer is well and truly winding down…not to mention the fact that it is getting dark earlier. While the warm days are still with us it feels good to take that laptop outdoors – even if it’s only for a short break. I came across this outdoor workspace roundup on Apartment Therapy back in June. What’s your ideal outdoor work space?

Working in the Woods

Teacher and freelance writer Kate Convissor has been working for Herman Miller for 17 years. Here she shares her summer workspace with us.

“Those Gen X, Y, and Z whippersnappers may be all about mobility and working-wherever-you-are, but we boomers can be adaptable, too, as Robin noted in a previous Discover blog post.

Darn right.

I recently traded my Aeron chair for a campground bench and my home office for a 14-foot trailer and am about to test the limits of all this mobile technology ballyhoo. I’ve only gotten as far as northern Michigan, but so far I’ve learned:

1. I can’t work outside. All that natural light that office workers covet overpowers even the brightest computer monitor and strains my aging eyes. So I’m forced into my cubicle-sized and non-ergonomic office that also is my living space.

2. Wi-Fi is ubiquitous wherever there are people. However, no people; no Wi-Fi. There is, apparently, technology that brings Wi-Fi to your computer via satellite signals, so theoretically I could get it even where cell phones fail. My friend says the device works “like magic,” but I’m testing the limits of my budget before I bite on the added monthly charge.

3. So far, cell phone coverage isn’t bad. Even in the middle of the forest, I can often pick up two bars, which is enough for a semi-dependable conversation—or a call to 911.

4. I can recharge my computer with an inverter attached to my truck battery, but the adapter gets really, really hot.

I haven’t crossed national boundaries yet, or tried, like my Gen-Y daughter, to send photos from Peru, nor have I sampled the smart phone gadgetry beloved by my kids, but so far technology has been reasonably mobile. The biggest adjustment has been losing instant and continuous Internet access, but I’d say the view is worth it.

By Kate Convissor.

Via Discover.”