Joyn is a new modular office system designed by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra. It consists of a single platform level that can be reconfigured using movable screens and elements to support different work modes and densities. The system is designed to be flexible and adaptable in response to changing workplace needs and technologies. Joyn aims to foster interaction, communication and collaboration through its open layout and ability to easily transition between individual, team-based and meeting spaces.
2. CREDITS
Design and concept:
2x4, New York
Lithography:
GZD, Ditzingen (D)
Printing:
Gerber KG Druck + Medien
Photography:
Miro Zagnoli: Cover, inside
pages: 11, 16/17, 22, 25
Marc Eggimann: 4, 18/19, 46/47
Paul Tahon together with Ronan
Bouroullec: 12/13, 20/21, 23
Eduardo P辿rez: 30/31, 34/35
Gary Turnbull: 32/33
Nacasa & Partners Inc.: 36/37
Jan Bitter: 38/39, 48/49
Armin Linke: 40/41
Christian Gahl: 42/43
Benny Chan: 4447
2012, art. no. 098 550 02
vitra.速
All intellectual property
rights, such as trademarks,
patents and copyrights are
reserved. Nothing contained in
this folder may be reproduced
without written permission.
3. Joyn is not furniture.
Joyn is a philosophy, an
organisational system,
a way of thinking about work.
Design: Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec
4. 2 3
Why systems?
New kinds of systems are needed to meet the challenges that arise from these
new economic and interpersonal conditions: systems that are self-sufficient and
self-sustaining, adaptive to change and responsive to difference. Systems that
provide coherence and ensure continuity over time as well as compatibility across
space. And this is why we tailor systems to fit the diverse ambitions of the contem-
porary office:
To provide autonomy, creating a sense of privacy and control in a collective
environment.
To foster collectivity, which serves to optimise both communication and interaction.
To ensure expandability, by producing an infinity of work conditions and
relationships.
To allow multiplicity that permits all levels of work, and also accomodates diversity.
To build modularity, providing the most economical use of the elements to fulfil
all working scenarios.
What happened to the office?
The office as we know it has disappeared.
Why? The old style workplace, with its rigid hierarchies, cannot keep pace
with the speed of the global business network. It is too slow, too leaden, too
resistant to change.
Technology allows us to work virtually anywhere, at any time and 24/7
global competition requires it. But old, rigid spatial divisions get in the way,
blocking interaction and disabling communication.
Flexibility - the ability to absorb change - has emerged as the single most
important feature of office design. So a new kind of workspace has appeared.
Its fast, light and it embraces seemingly endless organisational combinations
and juxtapositions.
It is open not closed - it accepts new additions, technologies and configura-
tions. And it works on many levels simultaneously: providing solace for
the individual, support for the team, structure for the office and identity for
the enterprise.
5. 54
Meanwhile at Vitra...
We have spent the past 40 years studying the sociology of work, exploring
emerging technologies, developing innovative new materials and creating
new kinds of systems for new ways of working. All these years of experience
have culminated in our newest, evolutionary office system: Joyn.
6. 6 7
With its mobile and modular structure, Joyn adapts spontaneously to changing demands and technologies.
It initiates new, productive forms of work based on communication and cooperation.
The platform
Joyn condenses a diversity of spatial functions on a single plane: The platform is the office.
But Joyn is more than just a piece of office furniture, its a management tool for cultural change.
7. 8 9
Constant flux
Joyn is designed to be easily reconfigured by the people who use it. The platform is stable, but when in use
it continually adapts to changing needs, tasks, technologies and workflows. Joyn is simple to use but as
sophisticated and complex as the problems it helps to solve. The capacity of rooms, floors, even buildings
becomes extraordinarily elastic.
8. 10 11
Screens & blotters
Work areas may be spontaneously rezoned using screens and blotters. As none of the boundaries are fixed,
work areas simply contract and expand as needed. Density varies with the level of activity.
9. 12 13
The lower level
The Joyn platform frame features containers for computers under the desktop, keeping the workspace clear.
Optional height adjusters can be used to raise the table top to 74-76 cm.
The third level
The Joyn platform accommodates workers on two sides who are separated by a central cable channel that carries
data, a power supply and the third level: aluminium profiles that serve to hold screens, organisers, lamps and
special adapters for flatscreens.
11. 16 17
Joyn Conference
Meeting and working functions have blended together. Conferences may incorporate digital projection,
laptops, speakerphones, mobile phones, PDAs as well as traditional paper and pencils. The Joyn bench
(with embedded power and data) is the perfect surface on which to orchestrate contemporary meetings.
12. 18 19
Joyn Single Bench
The Joyn Single Bench is the personal workplace for any decision maker in a collective environment.
13. 20 21
Joyn Single Desk
Height adjustable Joyn Single Desks are designed for single users. Optional screens surrounding the
table top provide more privacy. Direct power access facilitates plug and work.
14. 22 23
Joyn Hut
A roof-like construction with functional elements that both define and structure a given space.
15. 24 25
Joyn environment
Joyn provides a peripheral landscape and an alternative to the interactivity of the platform.
16. relax / meet
non-territoral
meet informal
relax / meet
work / meet
non-territoral
non-territoral
meet
work / meet
relax / meet
meet
co鍖ee area / meet
non-territoral
26 27
843 m2
Denisty variation: 50-70 people
Work places: 66
Territorial employees: 54
Non territorial: 12
Joyn Single Desk: 4
Meeting room open 1:
6 people
Meeting room closed 2:
16 people
open space:
Joyn office
Joyn is designed for the dynamics of a contemporary office. As the space allocated for each workspace is
flexible, Joyn creates a whole new approach to office planning: the same configuration can facilitate both
high and low density use.
17. 28 29
Little, Brown Book Group. London
Novartis. Basel
Barcode-House. Munich
Mori Art Museum. Tokyo
Spectraseis AG. Z端rich
Seattle Public Library. Seattle
Bread Butter. Berlin
Fashion Institute of Design Merchandising. Los Angeles
SLG Kunststoff. Bernau
Universiteitsbibliotheek Utrecht. Utrecht
Joyn references
Selection
18. 1
3130
Little, Brown Book Group.
London, Great Britain
Interior Design: Vitra Interior Design Services, London
23. 40 41
The Seattle Public Library.
Seattle, USA
Architecture/Interior Design:
OMA, New York (Rem Koolhaas, Joshua Ramus,
Mark von Hof-Zogrotzki)
LMN Architects, Seattle (Sam Miller)