Exhibition at ORGATEC 2016 - Exploring the rolling workspace -

OSAKA, Japan, October 17, 2016 KOKUYO Co., Ltd., (headquartered in Osaka; president and CEO: Hidekuni Kuroda) will exhibit at ORGATEC 2016 (International Trade Fair for Furnishing and Management of Offices and Office Facilities 2016) held in Cologne, Germany, from October 25-29, 2016.

Our booth will be filled with many circular objects under the key word "’WRITE’ = Old but New Communication Workstyle.”
In response to the increasing importance of real communication among workers in the office, we focus on the action of writing for enhancing the ideas and creativity of individuals and teams. KOKUYO suggests a new type of workspace with whiteboards as a key tool connecting stationery and furniture, which are both our business domains.
Just as in the previous ORGATEC 2014, our exhibition booth is designed by nendo, a design office led by Oki Sato, who is active in Japan and overseas. In the booth, circular whiteboards create various writing scenes that flexibly change and produce an innovative and attractive communication space that inspires the creativity of people who work inside.

We are seeking to take this opportunity to improve our recognition as a global brand of office furniture and to gear up our penetration into overseas markets in Asia and other parts of the world.

Photo: Products display image of KOKUYO exhibition booth (Photograph by Akihiro Yoshida)

Photo: Products display image of KOKUYO exhibition booth
(Photograph by Akihiro Yoshida)


* ORGATEC:  URL  http://www.koelnmesse.jp/orgatec/
An international trade fair for office furniture of the world’s largest class that is held every other year in Cologne, Germany, with the participation of major companies in office-related equipment and instruments, lighting, audio, security, and other fields; the previous ORGATEC 2014 had exhibition by 624 companies from 41 countries and more than 50,000 visitors from 120 countries.

Overview of exhibition

1. Concept: “rolling workspace”

Photo: Whiteboard (close-up view) (Photograph by Akihiro Yoshida)

Photo: Whiteboard (close-up view)
(Photograph by Akihiro Yoshida)

< "WRITE" = Old but New Communication Workstyle >
The act of writing has existed since long ago, while it is still one of the extremely important communication styles in modern offices.
In this exhibition, we suggest a workspace using whiteboards as the key, where creativity is enhanced through writing, and vigorous communication among workers is incited.

Picture: Concept sketch

Picture: Concept sketch

< Expansion of ideas and enhancement of creativity >
We transformed whiteboards into a circular shape, assuming that the reforming of square whiteboards installed in any offices could produce an environment where creativity is incited. We expect that, unlike the conventional linear whiteboards, circular white fields (plates) could help writing in a radial pattern, and ideas could be chained spirally. We supposed that, by simply making whiteboards in a round shape, the resulting communication and sharing could further expand and interconnect ideas, thereby offering a tool that inflates the creativity of workers.

< Dynamic workspace induces communication >
We expect that circular whiteboards can be freely rolled around in the office and leaned against the wall.
Desks, benches, and high counters that match these circular whiteboards were also designed with slits cut into them, enabling combinations with large and small boards, thereby configuring various writing communication spaces where ideas can be spirally chained. (These slits also enable whiteboards to easily fit in for use as partitions.)
The same idea was applied not only to furniture, but also to space. Whiteboards can also be used as stands that divide the room when fit into slits on the floor and as doors to private rooms and cabinets. Multiple whiteboards can be cleared away into many slits that are prepared on the walls.
These various slits can also be used as bicycle stands, and therefore it can be expected that workers bring their commutation bikes straight to their desks. Our aim is to achieve a dynamic workspace that encourages flexible mind movements incited by the frequent rotation of whiteboards.

Photo: The combination of circular boards and cabinets (Photograph by Akihiro Yoshida)

Photo: The combination of circular boards and cabinets
(Photograph by Akihiro Yoshida)

Photo: Circular board can be moved by rolling (Photograph by Akihiro Yoshida)

Photo: Circular board can be moved by rolling
(Photograph by Akihiro Yoshida)

2. Products to be exhibited

Photo: offset frame (Photograph by Hiroshi Iwasaki)

Photo: offset frame
(Photograph by Hiroshi Iwasaki)

Whiteboards, desks, and benches are to be exhibited at ORGATEC as concept models for reference.
The stacking chair “offset frame” will be exhibited and is the only product that has been released. More than 300 combinations of colors and shapes can be selected from the stacking chair offset frame series, which match the diverse, active, and variable work scenes as suggested in the exhibition and enriches the colorful workspace.

* offset frame website: http://kokuyo-furniture.com/products/meeting_stackable-chair/offset-frame/

Exhibitor: KOKUYO Co., Ltd.
Booth: B-050, Hall 7, Koelnmesse
Products to be exhibited: Whiteboards, desks, benches, and the stacking chair offset frame
* Concept models for reference except the offset frame
Booth design: nendo Inc.

◆ nendo and KOKUYO

nendo is a design office that represents Japan and was established in 2002 under the leadership of Mr. Oki Sato. nendo is based in Tokyo and Milan and handles a broad range of design in architecture, interior, products and graphics, under the concept “Giving people a small ‘!’ moment.” The office has been awarded a number of famous design prizes around the world, including selection into the “100 Japanese People the World Respects” and the world's 100 most watched SMEs by the Newsweek. nendo has undertaken many collaborations with KOKUYO, starting with the ofon released in 2013, followed by brackets, offset frame, and other office furniture products, and including our booth design in ORGATEC 2014 and 2016.

* nendo website: http://www.nendo.jp/

◆ ORGATEC 2016

Exhibition: Orgatec 2016 (International Trade Fair for Furnishing and Management of Offices and Office Facilities 2016)

Official URL: http://www.koelnmesse.jp/orgatec/
Organizer: Koelnmesse GmbH
Term: Tuesday, October 25 to Saturday, October 29, 2016
Hours: 9:00 - 18:00 (closed at 16:00 on the final day)
Venue: Koelnmesse, Germany
Admitted visitors: Specialized businesses

For inquiries or information:

KOKUYO website: http://www.kokuyo.com/

For inquiries or information
(https://www.kokuyo.com/en/contact/)

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