design the future
XE
xchange is a global design community with partners in Europe, USA, Asia & Australia. The company was created by Swiss architect and furniture designer Daniel Korb and Anthony Kotarac, a Sydney based architect and furniture designer who both share a passion for high quality and well designed furniture. Korb and Kotarac believe that “furniture is architecture on a different scale”. This thinking has shaped xchange Designs approach to furniture design resulting in solutions that seamlessly fuse utility and beauty. The xchange Design approach is very simple in nature, as what you essentially get with our products and solutions is “Swissness”. Swissness equals quality, creativity and durability.
FURNITURE IS ARCHITECTURE ON A DIFFERENT SCALE
xchange Design
© The Balancing Barn by MVRDV
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XE SYSTEM UTILITY AND BEAUTY
Design is not just about making things beautiful, it is also about making things work beautifully. In the 1 st century B.C. Vitruv defined the three qualities on architecture are firmitas, utilitas and venustas, that is, it must be solid, useful and beautiful. Oscar Wilde nearly 2000 years later suggested you should have in your house only things that are useful or beautiful [The house beautiful]. We believe that in the 21 st century it should be useful and beautiful again.
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Design Daniel Korb
ERGONOMICS XE
XE is a system platform we designed to address ergonomics in the broader sense of its original meaning. People tend to use ergonomics to describe the design of objects but in reality it is about the relationship between a person and the things around them. The Greek word ergonomics is a composite for the word work and natural laws. Natural laws for us translate into addressing human needs helping them to perform in the best possible way. This is why we focus to create spaces with those needs in mind. XE allows providing solutions around tables, houses, storage and seating integrating needs for privacy, acoustics, colour and different scenarios. XE is focusing on a better understanding of space and human needs using design to solve these problems.
XE
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DNA
XE DNA ADAPT
Some things in life are simply what they are and others are prepared for change. It is written into our DNA how we adapt and so it is written into the DNA of XE. As tomorrow will be nothing like today, be prepared for change. XE is highly adaptable to new environments reusing the kit of parts it comes with. In the systems DNA you will find a new quick release clamp, a multi- purpose beam and integrated connectivity. Even Mr. Darwin would like it.
* Darwin‘s Finch
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XE HAUS COMFORT AND ERGONOMICS
The changing definition of work today demands a new concept. As we are no longer tied to a computer monitor and technology allows us to work and learn where we want, the old categories are becoming less relevant. The XE Haus creates a ‘room within a room‘ that can utilise fixed or flexible elements inside its interior space to adpate for any user requirements whether it one-on-one learning, a quiet study escape or a team collaboration space.
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XE HAUS UNPLUG & FOCUS
A study by the international Academy for Design and Health shows that because our environment influences us on many levels, the setting is continually either supporting or depleting its occupants. Consciously creating and sustaining a nurturing setting fortifies the roots from which users evolve and grow. In essence we create a nurturing environment and let it grow, periodically unplugging from the demands of technology allows us to shine. Decision-making is tiresome - to recover have a break at the HAUS.
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XE HAUS KNOWLEDGE SPACES
Traditionally there was a need for one’s ‘own desk’ that could be translated into a ‘home’ or a ‘base’, which increasingly today does not have to be a workstation per se, but in each situation the quality of space designed should not be compromised. XE Haus has the flexibility to be used within classrooms, libraries, offices and communal areas by allowing the designer/end user to choose how they want to function within it. Whiteboards, pinboards, lighting, fixed or flexible seating and tables - the options are infinite.
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FOCUS
XE EFFICIENCY
“U.S. WORKERS ARE STRUGGLING TO WORK EFFECTIVELY. WHEN FOCUS IS COMPROMISED IN PURSUIT OF COLLABORATION NEITHER WORKS WELL. EFFECTIVE WORKPLACES BALANCE FOCUS AND COLLABORATION. CHOICES DRIVE PERFORMANCE AND INNOVATION.”
GENSLER, 2013 U.S. WORKPLACE SURVEY
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XE RETREAT BODY, MIND & SPIRIT
We believe simple is better than complex. Applying simple solutions to slow down helps us maintain a calm mind amidst the frenetic pace of daily life to support body, mind and spirit. XE Retreat uses the XE platform to create a varied landscape of touchdown seating with ottoman, bench, low height and full height size options.
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XE RETREAT ENVIRONMENT
Creating an inspired and healthy learning environment soothes the soul and recharges our proverbial batteries. Research supports that ergonomics when used properly can lead to happier people.
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XE RETREAT VIRTUAL AND NATURAL
Our ancestors were born in a natural environment while we are living more and more in a man made world despite our heritage, our DNA. But how can we survive in a virtual world if we do not respect our deeply ingrained natural needs? Our eyes are made for light and shadow, we can sense the slightest structure and we have more than one sense. The knowledge environment should address these natural needs supporting the human body and adding value to our lives.
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QUIET
XE HUMAN NEEDS YIN AND YANG
In Yin and Yang we find a harmony between the opposites of each other, in each of us we can find this same concept in a smaller proportion. Every introvert has a little bit of an extrovert and every extrovert is to a certain point an introvert. It would be interesting to take up the challenge of both the needs of the collaborative (extrovert) and the private worker (introvert) in today’s office. Knowing this we need space for both. Reading a book is as important as using the web. Diversity and choice is what we need.
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THOUGHT & ACTION XE SPACES
To be successful and useful we need in our lives both thought and action. But how could we create a space for thought and action? We have to provide privacy in the open plan so thought and action can thrive. Action without thought would be useless. No compromise, both is needed. Our task is to promote effective working and living environments, achieving conditions that will promote mental and physical well- being. The XE platform allows for integrated work- stations and tables to be added that have a ‘family‘ aesthetic when placed in spaces alongside the Haus and Retreat. Building spaces that encourage movement and collaboration from its occupants to stimulate all those creative thoughts.
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XE SPACES INTEGRATION & DISCUSSION
“The changing definition of work today demands a new conception of the office space. The increasing integration of informality pleasure and even play into the office has profound implications on the architectural evolution of the workplace. What is the nature of work today? How can architecture inspire and enable new exchanges in the workplace? Can architecture make our work pleasurable? Can architecture also anticipate new possibilities and definitions of work?“
From: A-TYPICAL PLAN. On identity, flexibility and atmosphere in the office building.
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XE SPACES
INNOVATION & MOVEMENT
All organizations depend on innovation: it helps them to thrive, build on success and compete more effectively. We know that new ideas are among the most valuable of all assets and we take creativity seriously, doing everything we can to help ideas flourish. Give people the right surroundings and they will find it easier to build and develop ideas, to communicate and collaborate with others. Human Beings are not meant to sit or stand, we are made to move. If we sit, the seat has to adapt to the body and not the other way round. We need to sit and stand. We have to move and rest. Comfort will support our output if the body is better understood.
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XCHANGE THE SEED
Diversity is what we believe in and what you may cherish. We are convinced that in the global village we have to find a way to contextualise what seems to appear in the big picture by focusing on a local identity. Think Glo-cal and then put out the seed.
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XCHANGE www.xchangedesign.com.au
Australia xchange design Australia Pty Ltd PO Box 44 St Ives NSW 2075 Australia contact@xchangedesign.com.au Switzerland xchange design GmbH Schartenstrasse 3 CH-5400 Baden Switzerland contact@xchangedesign.ch
RAECO www.raeco.com.au
Head Office CEI Pty Ltd trading as Raeco 75 Rushdale Street Knoxfield VIC 3180 Australia support@raeco.com.au
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WE DESIGN, MANUFACTURE & DELIVER LIBRARY, EDUCATION & LEARNING SPACES
xchange by raeco
A DESIGN AND MARKETING COLLABORATION
www.xchangedesign.com.au
www.raeco.com.au
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