Offices shape the lives of millions of people. How we plan, design and equip them says a great deal about the culture of organisations, the mentality of managers and the motivations of staff. But getting the right balance between management efficiency and individual wellbeing is as elusive as ever. New Demographics New Workspace looks for answers in some new places. The authors address ways in which the office environment can be redesigned to offer greater levels of comfort, flexibility and fitness for purpose in the new age of the older knowledge worker. Based on the findings of the authors 'Welcoming Workplace' research project at the Royal College of Art Helen Hamlyn Centre, New Demographics New Workspace examines the impact of two of the most significant shifts in the workplace: the ageing of the workforce and the changing nature of work itself in the knowledge economy. By examining the movements and motivations of older knowledge workers in the UK, Japan and Australia, the authors have generated new conceptual approaches to office design that offer an alternative to the current outdated model derived from the factory floor. In particular they question the value of open-plan offices that favour collaboration over concentration and contemplation. Given the growing pensions crisis and anticipated knowledge gap in the workforce in many developed countries, this book has real political, economic and social resonance. If we are all going to have extended working lives in the 21st century, the places in which we work will need to flex and adapt to make us want to keep on working.

Woodturning is as popular as ever -- a constantly growing segement in the woodworking world and one of the most wide-reaching woodcrafts among artists and hands-on crafters. It s appeal is based on the short learning curve, the minimal equipment, and the sheer joy of learning to make something out of wood with one s own hands. But, unlike a lot of crafts that rely on individuality and creative thinking, the initial techniques of woodturning must be mastered. While at first liberating, these same techniques can eventually be confining because in mastering them, one must follow the lead of others. At a certain point, woodturners can feel that mastering the techniques has become the end in itself as they lose sight of their true pursuit: to create one s own original style. In fact, some woodturners, who believe they aren t creative enough, will simply continue to master techniques while imitiating the style of others. Terry Martin, the author of The Creative Woodturner and a woodturning artist, instructor, and photographer for over thirty-years, believes this goes against the fundamental nature of creating and being an artist. There is no right or wrong and the pursuit of originality should be the goal of every woodturner. Best of all, creativity can be learned and the ability to think and see in one s own artistic style can be achieved. The Creative Woodturner is not your usual how-to woodturning book. It won t tell you what a chuck is, how to sharpen a scraper, or how to turn a goblet. Instead, this book is a how-to for unlocking curiosity, how to break the rules, and for following one s own artistic path with confidence. Designed to give readers a wide-persepective on creativity, The Creative Woodturner begins first with insightful commentary, quotes, and examples from the woodturning and art community that will both inspire and inform. In addition, the author shares his Idea Tools: questions to ask during the planning and creative process that are as important to the creation of the woodturning project as any equipment in the shop. Finally, 16 one-of-a-kind projects from boxes and vessles to bowls and one-of-a-kind scultpures are featured that will spark the creative mindset of any woodturner. Each project is documented with instructions and crisp photography highlighting the key steps, techniques, and tasks necessary for completion. In taking the reader through each project, the author pulls back the curtain on his woodturning magic and shares his vision and how the Idea Tools and creative thinking emerges in each project. An inspiring and enjoyable read not only for woodturners, but for any artist, The Creative Woodturner will anyone to think and see differently so time is spent at the lathe or whatever creative pursuit it is -- creating the original ideas instead of imitating someone else."

This book examines artists' engagements with design and architecture since the 1980s, and asks what they reveal about contemporary capitalist production and social life. Setting recent practices in historical relief, and exploring the work of Dan Graham, Rita McBride, Tobias Rehberger and Liam Gillick, Bill Roberts argues that design is a singularly valuable lens through which artists evoke, trace and critique the forces and relations of production that underpin everyday experience in advanced capitalist economies.

The Artistry of Flowers encourages everyone to live with florals and to appreciate their beauty as we appreciate art. Celebrated floral designer Gabriela Salazar teaches us how to look at flowers and understand their characteristics from an artist s perspective. By exploring different shapes, colors, and textures, she shows us how to understand flowers and their living, transitory nature. Drawing on painting background, Salazar looks at floral arrangements as compositions. She highlights which type of blooms are best for different designs and shares building blocks for floral designs ranging from simple and sculptural to complex and colorful, including arrangements for any mood and different decor. Salazar inspires us to explore our creativity, empowering us to design our own arrangements. Combining philosophical and practical tips, such as appreciating how flowers change over time and working with fragility The Artistry of Flowers is a treatise on flower appreciation. The stunning photography by Ngoc Minh Ngo known for Rizzoli books such as In Bloom and Eden Revisited complements Salazar s enthusiastic instruction.

Bio-inspired design (also called biomimetics or biomimicry) is a promising approach for the development of innovative technical products - not only in mechanical engineering, but also in areas such as material science and even computer engineering. Innovations such as humanoid robots or multifunctional materials have shown the potential of bio-inspired design. However, in industrial companies, bio-inspired design remains an "exotic" approach which is rarely used in innovation practice. One reason for this is a lack of knowledge on how to implement bio-inspired design in practice. Therefore, this guide book was written to explain the application of bio-inspired design methods and tools. The target groups are professional engineers and biologists, as well as students of both disciplines. The book presents a selection of methods for specific activities in bio-inspired design, namely: planning a bio-inspired design project, abstraction, search, analysis and comparison, and transfer of analogies. Factsheets give an overview of each method, its advantages and challenges, and its suitability for different bio-inspired design approaches and scenarios. To facilitate understanding, all methods are explained with the help of the same example. In addition, ten best practice examples show the practical applicability of bio-inspired design.

Scholarly interest in Art Deco has grown rapidly over the past fifty years, spanning different academic disciplines. This volume provides a guide to the current state of the field of Art Deco research by highlighting past accomplishments and promising new directions. Chapters are presented in five sections based on key concepts: migration, public culture, fashion, politics, and Art Deco's afterlife in heritage restoration and new media. The book provides a range of perspectives on and approaches to these issues, as well as to the concept of Art Deco itself. It highlights the slipperiness of Art Deco yet points to its potential to shed new light on the complexities of modernity.

Probability, Statistics and Other Frightening Stuff (Volume II of the Working Guides to Estimating & Forecasting series) considers many of the commonly used Descriptive Statistics in the world of estimating and forecasting. It considers values that are representative of the 'middle ground' (Measures of Central Tendency), and the degree of data scatter (Measures of Dispersion and Shape) around the 'middle ground' values. A number of Probability Distributions and where they might be used are discussed, along with some fascinating and useful 'rules of thumb' or short-cut properties that estimators and forecasters can exploit in plying their trade. With the help of a 'Correlation Chicken', the concept of partial correlation is explained, including how the estimator or forecaster can exploit this in reflecting varying levels of independence and imperfect dependence between an output or predicted value (such as cost) and an input or predictor variable such as size. Under the guise of 'Tails of the unexpected' the book concludes with two chapters devoted to Hypothesis Testing (or knowing when to accept or reject the validity of an assumed estimating relationship), and a number of statistically-based tests to help the estimator to decide whether to include or exclude a data point as an 'outlier', one that appears not to be representative of that which the estimator is tasked to produce. This is a valuable resource for estimators, engineers, accountants, project risk specialists as well as students of cost engineering.

This volume is a technical and operative contribution to the United Nations "Decade on Education for Sustainable Development" (2005-2014), aiding the development of a new generation of designers, responsible and able in the task of designing environmentally sustainable products. The book provides a comprehensive framework and a practical tool to support the design process. This is an important text for those interested in the product development processes.

The landscape of contemporary research is characterized by growing interdisciplinarity, and disciplinary boundaries are blurring faster than ever. Yet while interdisciplinary methods, and methodological innovation in general, are often presented as the 'holy grail' of research, there are few examples or discussions of their development and 'behaviour' in the field. This Routledge Handbook of Interdisciplinary Research presents a bold intervention by showcasing a diversity of stimulating approaches. Over 50 experienced researchers illustrate the challenges, but also the rewards of doing and representing interdisciplinary research through their own methodological developments. Featured projects cover a variety of scales and topics, from small art-science collaborations to the 'big data' of mass observations. Each section is dedicated to an aspect of data handling, from collection, classification, validation to communication to research audiences. Most importantly, Interdisciplinary Methods presents a distinctive approach through its focus on knowledge as process, defamiliarising and reworking familiar practices such as experimenting, archiving, observing, prototyping or translating.