OFFICE BUILDINGS

Dear Readers,

It’s an open secret – not only in the AIT editorial office: I don’t like houseplants! Not at home, not in the office, nowhere. This is not to say that I have anything against greenery. Outdoors, plants are certainly justified and my balcony flowers are lovingly maintained, but placing potted plants indoors has so far seemed quite arbitrary to me. Well, I obviously diverge from the current trend, which is referred to as “greenery” or “planterior” and aims to turn every office space into a place of wellbeing. During a visit to the newly designed office of the architecture firm Coast (picture above, from p. 132), I was proven wrong: if plants are an integral part of the interior concept – like colours, materials, surfaces and furniture – a coherent, atmospheric overall picture can indeed emerge. In some of our selected office projects (from p. 100), the indoor plant lovers seem to have successfully asserted themselves. In her article “Plants at Work”, greenterior designer Miriam Köpf explains what needs to be considered in office greening. AIT colleague Annette Weckesser (picture right, from p. 106) was convinced that the colour green alone can do a good job in the office premises of a hightech company. This AIT issue on “Office and Administration” also features insights on how (interior) architects design their own office spaces (from p.132). First-year interior design and architecture students starting in October are still a few years away from this. We traditionally welcome the young colleagues in this issue and reward them and all bachelor and master graduates with a free AIT subscription! Simply send your certificate of enrolment or proof of graduation plus your postal address to pstephan@ait-online.de! AIT has been the official medium of the Association of German Interior Architects since 1996, so we are happy to celebrate the 70th anniversary of bdia on 20 October in Detmold. Information on the programme can be found from page 162! I hope to see you there!

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