An Illuminating New Title on the Internationally
Acclaimed Architecture Practice

New Book by Roger Diener, Joseph Abram & Martin Steinmann: DIENER & DIENER

Phaidon is pleased to present the only monograph on the internationally acclaimed Swiss architecture practice of Diener & Diener. With a subtle, sophisticated style that combines intellectually rigorous thinking with an unpretentious, practical approach to design, Diener & Diener are world renowned for their singular take on Modernism. Diener & Diener charts the firm's development over more than 30 years, featuring over 40 key buildings selected for the book by Roger Diener, generously illustrated with 400 images.

From early apartment buildings in Switzerland to their most recent projects, currently under construction all over Europe, we witness how Diener & Diener's design thinking continues to evolve. Each project is described in detail, and illustrated with a wealth of never-before-published visual material taken from the firm's archives.

Diener & Diener's unswerving commitment to both the aesthetics and the ethics of Modernism, in defiance of the rise of postmodernism, has been winning them widespread acclaim ever since they first began to design their simple yet sophisticated residential complexes. All of the practice's best-known projects are represented here, including the shimmering glass Novartis Forum 3 in Basel, the copper-wrapped Migros shopping centre in Lucerne, and the subtle and harmonious blend of old and new in the Swiss Embassy in Berlin. The book also explores more modest, but equally beautiful projects such as the 1998 Swiss Pavilion at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

The monograph is enriched by the contributions of two prominent architectural historians, Martin Steinman and Joseph Abram, who shed light on the intellectual foundation of Diener & Diener's work. These essays, along with Roger Diener's own writings, illuminate the interplay in Diener & Diener's work between architecture and the city itself, and offer an in-depth examination of the formal clarity and innovative details that make these buildings so special.

I was always interested in art and architecture as a boy, and today collaborations with artists are really important for us. The Swiss Embassy in Berlin shows the two collaborative strategies we experience as architects: one to share the experience of a design from the very first day, like we did with Helmut Federle; and the other is with the an artist who joins the site only once the architecture is given, as we did successfully with Pipilotti Rist.

Roger Diener

Novartis Forum 3 in Basel

Apartment Buildings Hammerstrasse

Gmurzynska Gallery

Swiss embassy in Berlin

+ About

Roger Diener (b.1950) is the principle of Diener & Diener, the architecture firm established by his father, Marcus Diener, in 1948. He has taught at ETH Zurich, where he is a tenured professor for architecture and design, since 1999, and he has been a visiting professor at Harvard's Graduate School for Design, the School of Architecture in Vienna, and the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. He has won the Medaille d'Or from the Académie Français among many other awards.

Joseph Abram is a Swiss author and architectural historian who has written widely on modernist architecture. He is a professor at the École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Nancy in France.

Martin Steinmann is an architect and architectural historian. He is a professor of architecture at ETH Zurich and has taught at ETH Lausanne and MIT in Cambridge. He has written extensively on Swiss modernist architecture and particularly on the Ticino region.

+ Title Information

Title: Diener & Diener
Contributors: Roger Diener, Joseph Abram, Martin Steinmann
ISBN: 978 0 7148 5919 4
Extent: 320 pages
Binding: Hardback
Illustrations: 300 Colour, 100 Black & White Illustrations
Size: 290mm x 250mm

+ Diener & Diener is available from Phaidon.com or amazon

As part of the Operational Excellence Initiatives for eBay, Valerio Dewalt Train Associates collaborated with eBay's internal Workplace Resources Team to develop a series of pilot projects intended to establish a new corporate workplace standard. New modular furniture workstations increase flexibility and allow teams to easily reconfigure their spaces using a standard kit of parts. Carefully programmed collaborative venues throughout the space support private and project team work. Hotel stations, team project areas, private rooms, alcove chat areas, and storage solutions were revisited to ensure they comply with the new use of the space. The result is flexible working environments that enhance communication and collaboration.

eBay Workplace Initiative, photo by David Wakely

The design process began with a tour of a variety of technology companies to identify best practices. In addition, a company-wide survey asked more than 5,000 employees in eBay's San Jose and Austin, Texas, campuses about their current work environment. The need most often identified was for smaller and more informal places to meet that didn't require reservations, as well as for better communications technology.

eBay Workplace Initiative, photo by David Wakely

The design team created a pilot space and developed mock-up rooms with furniture from seven manufacturers to test program concepts. Knoll was selected as furniture manufacture partner, but the spaces rely on furniture from a variety of other manufacturers as well. Space planning sessions with business unit teams further refined programming needs.

eBay Workplace Initiative, photo by David Wakely

The new 6′ x 7′ bench-style workstations cost less than their predecessors and comply with eBay's new standards for renewable and recyclable material content. The workstations are lower in height, improving access to views as well as natural light, which brings down the energy costs of artificial lighting. In addition, the new layout increases density per employee, saving on real estate costs. The modular system reduces the amount of warehouse space required, because the kits of parts is flexible enough to meet the needs of all business units. Existing workstation seats were all reused, supplemented by new office support elements.

eBay Workplace Initiative, photo by David Wakely

Screens at the end of major walkways provide privacy for seated workers without blocking views, enabling people to see the whole floor and look outside. These screens also support storage, branding, whiteboards, tack boards, and a printer station. Departments engaged in sensitive work, such as human resources, are semi-enclosed and feature a white noise system around the perimeter of workstations to provide acoustic privacy.

eBay Workplace Initiative - Layout plan with zone, courtesy Valerio Dewalt Train Associates

In total, seven new collaborative venues were created. "Think" rooms support concentrated individual work and private phone conversations. "Focus" rooms have two chairs for one-to-one collaboration. "Keep and Meet" areas facilitate small team meetings with whiteboards and a common tabletop that rests on file storage that the teams can use for the length of their project. "Connect" areas consist of a few chairs with marker boards. "Project Lounges," defined by Steelcase's Post and Beam system and equipped with flexible lounge furniture, are areas that teams can occupy for the duration of a specific project. "Project Work" areas resemble project lounges but are furnished with mobile tables and chairs for easy reconfiguration. "Huddle" areas consist of Vitra's Alcove Highback sofas facing each other, facilitating impromptu semi-private conversations.

eBay Workplace Initiative, photo by David Wakely

The number of existing conference rooms has remained the same. Unlike the existing conference rooms, none of the new meeting venues require reservations. All are equipped with state-of-the-art LED screens instead of projectors, which employees can use without having to rely on tech staff to set up.

The new workspace has been implemented in eBay's San Jose and Austin campuses and is currently being rolled out in its workplaces across the United States. The project has resulted in an average 30% increase of workstation density, with an average of one new collaborative venue for every 18 workstations.

eBay Workplace Initiative, photo by David Wakely

The workspace also better supports alternative officing strategies. In eBay's existing workplace, visitors and hoteling employees had to work out of a dedicated facility on campus. In the new workplace, "visit stations" on each floor allow visitors to sit with their own teams for the duration of their stay.

Post-pilot surveys were conducted three months and six months after implementation of the new initiative to gain feedback from employees.

eBay Workplace Initiative, photo by David Wakely

+ Project credits / data

Strategic Planning and Design: eBay Workplace Resources
Architectural Design and Implementation: Valerio Dewalt Train Associates
Workplace Survey and Analysis: Iometrics Incorporated
Change Management Consultant: DEGW – San Francisco
Furniture Manufacture Partner: Knoll – KBM Workspace
Photographer: David Wakely

+ All images and drawings courtesy Valerio Dewalt Train Associates | Photo by David Wakely

+ Some other playful workspaces on +MOOD

Prodigy MSN Offices spAce arquitectura

AOL Office | Studio O+A