David Rockwell, renowned for creating places where people want to be, has designed for Knoll, an unrivaled work experience designed to let people complete the story.
” In theater, from a storytelling point of view, I’ve always believed that what the physical world can do is set the stage for the narrative.” …… David Rockwell
Rockwell Unscripted™ = Hospitality, theatre and play at work.
Rooted in Rockwell’s innovations in hospitality, entertainment, and public space, Unscripted is a collection of improvisational elements that cultivate community and creativity for the pace and flow of how you work today.
Rockwell Unscripted meets the needs of the evolving workplace, where boundaries between traditional primary and activity spaces dissolve.
Knoll’s most expansive office collection released to date, Rockwell Unscripted features architecturally-grounded and moveable elements that create a variety of environments —from gathering spaces to quiet retreats and set an improvisational stage for group-based work and shared experiences.
“Our interest is in getting people to look at their work environments as a stage on which movable furniture can be arranged in endless configurations, you can craft the scene around what it is you’re doing that day.” ……………. David Rockwell.
Time to think is room to breathe is find your focus is rearrange what was public into what is now private is profoundly productive
Workplace is stage is improv is playing host to your guest is what’s mine is yours is ours is whatever we want right now.
Workspace is play space is catch up is break it down to make it new is open it up is make a passageway is way find is wind down.
Throw ideas against the wall—and sketch on it, too.
Turn a coffee break into a creative breakthrough from the comfort of a club chair.
Unwind in a lounge that compels you to come as you are and leave transformed.
Flow from preparation to presentation without breaking focus, or leaving the communal table.
Unscripted elements include over 30 products in six categories.
“The product relies on a theatrical analogy to explain how one’s space can be easily reorganized around three or four different activities over the course of the day—from individual work to team meetings—without applying a lot of effort,” he added.
Unscripted features a comprehensive, eclectic array of freestanding, architecturally grounded and movable elements that can be used to create a variety of experiences, from gathering spaces to quiet retreats.
Creative walls and steps evoke the energy of performance, while lounge elements conjure the atmosphere of a hotel lobby.
Tables become a stage for work, conversation and celebration.
Modular and mobile storage elements evoke the casual feeling of a workshop.
Borders
With variety in scale, form, textural material and degree of visual and acoustic privacy, Unscripted borders define open-ended spaces, create a sense of discovery and provide a richness of experience in a workplace that can transform in the moment and evolve over time.
Steps
Unscripted steps are building blocks that bring an improvisational, communal experience to spaces where people can be “alone together” or “together together,” and create natural, open transitions from one experience to the next.
Rather than a static built-in solution, simple cubic forms plan together in myriad ways, allowing people to define their configuration with a sense of theater and play. Create bleachers, amphitheaters and pocket parks where you can focus, relax or connect.
The honest expression of plywood and the durable covered option invite you to climb on the furniture and pick your ideal vantage point.
Tables
The warm expression of wood and curved touchpoints of Unscripted tables bring hospitality and an approachable air to the workplace.
Ranging from long library tables, to sawhorse tables and drink rails, to easy work tables, Unscripted tables bring a convivial spirit to informal, multi-use spaces.
They serve as a creative platform, as the invitation to gather round, disband and come back together again, all in the span of a day. Unscripted occasional tables—from coffee to bar-height lend a relaxed, eclectic aesthetic to the workplace.
Seating
Unscripted seating takes you from low to high, and from a quick perch to a leisurely stasis so you can find your niche.
The variety of elements includes roomy individual and modular upholstered lounge pieces, unexpectedly delightful swivel seats, unstructured poufs, and easy stools and benches you can pick up and move. Each inspires hospitality at every turn.
Storage
Unscripted uses storage as an activator in the space, putting inspiration within reach by equipping workspaces with easy-access, object-based storage.
With a full range of open and enclosed, freestanding and mobile storage elements for both individuals and groups, and an eclectic mix of materials, Unscripted storage serves as a creative toolbox that helps you get to work.
Accessories
Small conveniences and useful tools lend a personal touch, make you feel cared for, and add to the overall experience.
Unscripted is anything but unplanned.
It is the culmination of years of research—by Knoll and Rockwell, independently and together—about the way work is truly done today.
Work increasingly takes places elsewhere.
At a coffee shop or lunch counter, walking down the street, sitting on a park bench or perched on a bar stool and, overall, the urge to demarcate or defend individual territory is giving way to a desire for community.
Whether alone or with colleagues, planned or the result of happenstance, people are often productive at unexpected moments and in unforeseen settings.
Blurring the boundary between work and play in the office doesn’t diminish the amount of work being done.
Instead, it injects a new vitality, creating holistic, open-to-interpretation workplaces that can enhance ingenuity and productivity.
Unscripted takes the notion of planning for spontaneity from an inherent contradiction to a tangible reality: with fairly little effort, furniture can be adapted or reconfigured around you, for whatever you happen to be doing and with whomever you happen to be working at any given moment.
David Rockwell’s decades of experience in restaurant and hotel design is directly translatable to emerging trends in the workplace.
Rockwell knows how to make the people who inhabit his spaces feel comfortable and in control—the protagonists in dramas of their own making—and it’s this same sense of hospitality and empowerment that office workers, liberated from their desks by wireless technology, are seeking.
About David Rockwell
Rockwell Group was founded in 1984 by David Rockwell, FAIA, the firm focuses on architecture and design that emphasizes innovation and thought leadership in environments including restaurants, hotels, cultural institutions and theater.
Inspired by live performance, Rockwell Group creates a unique narrative for each project.
Based in New York with offices in Madrid and Shanghai, Rockwell Group merges architecture, theater, craftsmanship, and technology to create unique narratives for their work, including hospitality, cultural institutions, offices, transportation, residential, set design, products, exhibitions and festivals.
Other Projects include
Nobu restaurants and hotels worldwide; The New York EDITION; W Hotels worldwide; Virgin Hotels Chicago; TED Theater (Vancouver, BC); Travelle at the Langham (Chicago); Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho Hotel; 15 Hudson Yards and Culture Shed in collaboration with Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Product collections for Stellar Works, The Rug Company, Jim Thompson and Shaw Hospitality Group.
As well as set designs for On Your Feet, Kinky Boots and Hairspray
Kinky Boots Broadway theatre
Honors and recognition include the AIA New York Chapter President’s Award, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award, and the Presidential Design Award.
About Knoll
Knoll is a constellation of design-driven brands and people, working together with our clients to create inspired modern interiors.
Our internationally recognized portfolio includes furniture, textiles, leathers, accessories, and architectural and acoustical elements brands.
These brands—Knoll Office, KnollStudio, KnollTextiles, KnollExtra, Spinneybeck | FilzFelt, Edelman Leather, and HOLLY HUNT—reflect our commitment to modern design that meets the diverse requirements of high performance workplaces and luxury interiors.
A recipient of the National Design Award for Corporate and Institutional Achievement from the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Knoll is aligned with the U.S. Green Building Council and the Canadian Green Building Council and can help organizations achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) workplace certification.
Knoll is the founding sponsor of the World Monuments Fund Modernism at Risk program.
