Office landscape

The general European mentality towards innovative forms of office design in the 1940 and 1950s was that of caution and hesitation following the devastating effects left from WWI and WWII.

In 1958, the Quickborner consulting group was established by two brothers, Wolfgang and Eberhard Schnelle, who had previously been working as assistants in their father’s furniture studio.

They saw the current status quo, which used versions of scientific management and consisted of uninspired rows of desks and a strict office hierarchy as an opportunity for change.

Office landscape encouraged all levels of staff to sit together in one open floor to create a non-hierarchical environment that increased communication and collaboration.

Standard desks and chairs were used, with lateral file cabinets, curved screens, and large potted plants used as visual barriers and space definers.

His concept was a flexible work environment known as Action Office that aimed to pair the adaptability and openness of Bürolandschaft with more privacy and personalization for employees.

However, Propst's Action Desk degenerated into the regimented sea of cubicles common in modern offices and reminiscent of earlier Taylorism due to standardization of parts in manufacturing and space efficiency.