OFFICE BUILDINGS

Dear Readers,

Right now you are probably where 18 million Germans spend a majority of their lifetime – in your office! As many people as never before – about one quarter of the total population – practise a job between computer screen, desk and swivel chair. Depending on the range of duties, this job is more or less inspiring, specified in varying degrees or simply functional. In many offices you can see what is happening inside: whether the user is doing administrative work, develops ideas or exercises power! For this office issue, our AIT columnists, Dominik and Benjamin Reding, visited eight influential office users and took a curious look at their working environment. The workplaces of politician Claudia Roth, Bishop Markus Dröge, entrepreneur Christian Boros, Foundation President Hermann Parzinger, artistic director Dagmar Reim, editor-in-chief Lorenz Maroldt, theatre maker Friedrich Barner and ambassador Tim Guldimann could hardly be any more different. Under the title of “How power works.” You can expect an – as always brilliantly and hilariously worded – insight into these personal control centres! Claudia Roth is already looking forward to the publication, her press office informed us! Another person who can be delighted is AIT reader Dr. Konstantin Knecht, architect from Stuttgart and participant in our contest related to the Reding essay in AIT 1-2/15 (p. 60). His vote for the housing scenario of bookkeeper Peter K. described by Benjamin Reding was drawn from numerous entries, and in the next few days, Dr. Knecht will receive an original issue of “Innen-Dekoration” dating from Mai 1930 by post! In this issue, we can also announce another competition result in our own account: every year we ask our readers which AIT cover they liked best – no, it´s not the AIT-issue, which ambassador Tim Guldimann (see photograph below) browsed through! On page 14 you can find out which one it is and if you have, participation provided, won one of numerous architectural book prizes. In case you also want to know, which wall colour (photo on the left) has inspired and motivated me for the last 13 years at my workplace – it is Rouge Rubis by Polychromie Le Corbusier – and it still does! Good work!

Best wishes
Petra Stephan, Dipl.-Ing.
Chief Editor
Architect