One of the most interesting trends in interior design concerns the evolution of office spaces: innovative models are being experimented with for a substantially changing corporate culture, multifunctional spaces, hybridisations between physical and virtual, and between work and leisure. The world of design does not hesitate to provide answers that go along with this trend, also becoming a promoter of innovation and new forms of interaction. Domus has activated a space for ad-hoc reflection on the subject, the Modern Work section, which analyses these changes from different points of view, involving designers and professionals, companies and institutions.

One of the Italian companies most attentive to these mutations is Fantoni, which for its Panorama collection collaborates with Dutch architect Ben van Berkel of UNStudio and experiments with new ways of conceiving work environments: in-between areas, hybrid zones where home and office come together to generate welcoming, flexible places in which to work, meet, relax, individually or with others.

UNStudio is a Dutch-based practice that investigates the theme of work at different scales. The practice has also recently completed the renovation of the former headquarters of Rabobank, a Dutch financial services and banking institution based in Utrecht, transforming it into a contemporary 32,000 square metre government office building and christened “Fellenoord 15”.

UNStudio conceives the new Panorama collection as a human-centred landscape: a system of partitions at various heights for different levels of privacy around which specific compositions are formed, but it is also a system of soft seating that promotes a sense of comfort and community, as well as a set of fixed and temporary workstations for a welcoming and integrated workspace.

The elements that make up the Panorama collection - which can be integrated with other Fantoni products - define three specific work areas: Collaboration includes solutions for collective work and brainstorming, encourages short meetings and even standing, and offers a creative and stimulating environment; Learning & Focus defines private spaces for individual and small group work, for calls and video calls, moments of concentration and reflection; Social includes flexible solutions for spaces dedicated to relaxation and conviviality, for interacting away from more traditional work spaces. The collection is characterised by bold colours, such as Allura red and ocean blue, bordered in black and complemented by a variety of accessories such as coat hooks, monitor hanging kits and magnetic cable lifts. Recyclable materials were chosen for the Panorama collection, such as chipboard panels, produced by Fantoni from 100% post-consumer wood.

UNStudio's project outlines a new panorama in the future of the workspace, with solutions that can also be applied outside the office environment, confirming the profound evolution of work and technology paradigms that lead us to be active everywhere, from the airport to hotel lobbies, from the home to shopping centres.