ease

• Main Author: Chong, Evelyn Li Ping
• Other Authors: Chalit Kongsuwan
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: DRNTU::Visual arts and music
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/68514
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

A personal experience of working in an uncomfortable workspace has stimulated me to work on this Final Year Project. With office jobs becoming more dependent on technology, there is often a lack of warmth and comfort in workspaces. This uncomfortable experience has led to the curiosity on how workspace environments are able to influence our comfort levels physically and psychologically. Existing methodologies on creating a sense of ease in spaces include Feng Shui and Biophilic Design. These methods were referenced as they both make use of natural elements as remedies. With material, form and movement being some of the key points that affects our comfort, works by conventional craftsmen such as George Nakashima and Tapio Wirkkala were analysed. The purpose of this report is to explore problems in confined workspace environments that can affect our physical and psychological comfort levels, as well as the different existing methodologies in comforting white-collared workers. Through the study of different material meanings and our senses, a better understanding on how humans perceive comfort is achieved. From the research done, it is also understood that natural materials, organic forms, and movement are influential in generating a sense of comfort. The final design outcome, ease, is a range of desk objects inspired by the olive-backed sunbird that is native to Singapore, as well as the kinetic movement of roly-poly. The work is intended to suggest comfort in cubicles where the space is limited and inert.