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This is ArchTech & Future

2017-07-05

Archtech & Future, our virtual studio and hub of innovation, brings together a group of hand-picked specialists, all of whom contribute their unique skills and perspectives. Despite the focus on technology, this is not all important – our fundamental aim is to create architecture which is sustainable, socially conscious and future-proof.

Jakob Lilliemarck, Soon Hammarström, Joakim Grönlund and Andreas Kull

Hello there Soon Hammarström, Jakob Lilliemarck, Andreas Kull and Joakim Grönlund from ArchTech & Future!

Who’s in the team?
– We’re quite a mixed group from a range of backgrounds, including architecture, media technology, gaming, illustration, computer graphics, design and business development. We’re all united by our interest in and knowledge of digital opportunities and the desire to harness technology towards thecreation of an innovative, inclusive society sustainable in the long term.

What are your aims?
– We want to utilise new thoughts, technologies and methods to create opportunities for architects to build a better world – today, tomorrow and in 100 years. Our aim is to provide architects with greater design freedom while ensuring clients have peace of mind and users benefit from a better experience. This could involve analysis and optimisation, digital production and visualisation, for example.

How do you help the world?
– We help the world by taking an enlightened, proactive approach. Thanks to our expertise and new technology, we can now find out more about the outcome of our decisions earlier in the process, by carrying out analysis and simulations. We work with lighting simulation, material optimisation and BIM. Utilising visual communication in the form of images and virtual environments allows us to convey complex processes in a more comprehensible way, which minimises risks and provides greater flexibility in the design process.

What’s the approach?
– Not only are we working on a broad scale to implement digitalisation extensively across the company, we’re also spearheading prototyping and tests designed to identify totally new solutions.  Among other methods, we utilise AR/VR to assist with visualisation and design as well as BIM, digital production, advanced modelling, analysis and optimisation. That said, the most important thing is not the technology itself, but the way we use it.

Read more about ArchTech & Future under Our Future >>

Talking about Tengbom’s new identity

2016-06-21

According to Oscar Liedgren, who devised Tengbom’s new graphic profile, a company’s visual identity is constantly evolving. There’s a more detailed, interesting story to be told here, so we dig a little deeper to reveal the path of the process. Oscar Liedgren is happy to fill us in.

Oscar Liedgren
Oscar Liedgren

Not only has Tengbom assumed a new visual identity, it has adopted a new way of operating and communicating. Can you explain why the two go hand in hand?
– It’s always fascinating to look into the way in which an industry as a whole communicates – it’s a chance to chart typical approaches to branding/communication. When we started on this project we looked at between 150 and 200 architectural practices, and it quickly became clear that many shared a common visual identity, which was not unexpected. What was more striking, however, was that many of these firms chose not to say anything interesting about their projects. We therefore decided that Tengbom would take the lead in bringing its projects to life in every way, with design and language of equal importance in this regard. This led to an entirely new approach from Tengbom, and naturally, the aim is to engage a larger, broader audience, since architecture impacts on us all in some way. The challenge was finding ways to engage the reader and observer by providing more detail: What happened when we won the commission? Who was involved in the process? What types of different skills were required? Did we encounter any problems? These accounts are intended to elicit a reaction.

The company’s visual identity has undergone a change, albeit on a small scale. Why choose evolution rather than a total transformation?
– There was a great deal at Tengbom that already worked well. Companies are sometimes forced to undergo a total transformation in which everything – the organisation, name and ownership – is changed. This wasn’t the case for Tengbom. It was more about pursuing improvements in each area. This was reflected in our ambition to sharpen all the tools in the graphical toolbox rather than replacing everything and starting from scratch.

What is important to bear in mind during the process to create a branding identity?
– Getting to know and understanding an organisation is vital, and it’s just as important to know how the industry functions and communicates. That said, it’s important not to be consumed by all this insight. As an outsider, your lack of knowledge can actually be one of your most important assets. You have to ask a lot of stupid questions, like ‘Why do you do this?’, ‘Does it have to look this way?’, ‘How would it work if you did it this way?’. When you’re operating in a complex world, it’s easy to become accustomed to tried-and-trusted, long-established methods.

In what ways have Tengbom’s employees been involved?
– Developing an identity is a collaborative process, and the team at Tengbom have been heavily involved throughout. Not only have the marketing and communication departments provided input, we’ve also held a number of reviews with the board and management group. However, best of all was the workshop we arranged in which representatives from every office offered their perspectives, and truly overwhelmed us with their excellent ideas. We now have material for at least five years to come!

Tengbom has been given its own typeface, Tengbom Scandia. What’s the background to this?
– Tengbom Scandia is based on an existing typeface, which has been extended to include unique variations and properties. Being given a unique typeface is a bit like having your own handwriting. It’s also clearly connected to our logo, so the spirit of Tengbom is evoked the moment you discern the shape of the letters.

Oscar Liedgren
Oscar Liedgren shows us parts of our new typeface, Tengbom Scandia.

How do you think Tengbom will adjust to its new identity?
– Good question! It’s really now that the hard work begins. Our new profile provides a sound platform from which to continually expand and develop – it certainly isn’t restrictive and limited to a single purpose. We don’t want Tengbom to continually create the same impression, or projects to be drawn up on the same lines. Tengbom achieves so many fantastic things, and it’s my hope that the new identity will make it possible to spread the word far wider.

Oscar Liedgren Studio and copywriter Mattias Jersild have been collaborating with Tengbom on the development of the graphical profile and tonality since spring 2015.

Johanna & Mark about the ever unfinished office

2016-06-15

A short move physically but a giant leap for the company, is one way of putting it when Tengbom’s Stockholm office moved into new premises. It is not coincidental that it sounds like Neil Armstrong’s famous statement as he landed on the moon – because here, there is no lack of vision.

After a considerable growth spurt here at Tengbom in the last few years, the old head office in Stockholm was suddenly too small. It also had the drawback of being divided into two different addresses – something that turned out to be rather impractical despite them being close to each other.

”A small physical barrier can be a large psychological one”, says Mark Humphreys who is one of two office managers together with Johanna Munck af Rosenschöld, who have both been responsible for the project.

Mark and Johanna
Johanna Munck af Rosenschöld and Mark Humphreys.

The solution was to move everything to one of the addresses where half of the offices were located, but to new premises higher up in the building. The level of ambition was high. It is not just today’s place of work that is presented but also the one of tomorrow – and the future. We have learned things from previous offices: What worked well? What worked less well? In addition, the expertise inside the walls has been used to the max through workshops, investigations and questionnaires.

Tengbom HQ in Stockholm 2

The result is a flexible and versatile office that is not only environmentally friendly, resource efficient and well thought out structurally but also is open to our own solutions, initiatives and the exchange of ideas between colleagues.

”The goal has been a creative workshop where nothing is stopping us from working, getting materials out and making a mess. We want our colleagues to display the projects they are working on, to debate and learn from each other. We have focused a lot on making it easier for the interior designers and have had to let go of the guide rails and look at reality”, say the architects.

”The office is an ongoing process that will never be finished. We don’t want it to be finished! We don’t call it activity based, but ’innovation based’. It is the next step”, they say.

Naturally, an architect firm must of course do as they preach. But the work place does not just function as an elegant shop window for visitors to see but also as a workshop constantly busy where we, in addition to the more traditional work stations also have room for a generous model workshop, a well-stocked library of materials, conference rooms of varying sizes, a gym – and a table tennis table popular with adults and visiting children alike.

”A workplace does not just consist of 270 desks, because that is not how we work today. The workday looks different both for different people and for the individual on different days. Sometimes, we are making sketches, sometimes we do research and sometimes we have meetings. A workplace must reflect the tasks we perform”, says Johanna Munck af Rosenschöld.

”It was also important to create a greater variation of meeting places since these were somewhat boring in our last office. The greatest and maybe most important addition is the informal meeting place that we call the Arena; a space for the exchange of expertise between colleagues and clients but also an excellent space for lectures and exhibitions”, says Mark Humphreys.

A good, well researched start that gradually will grow into something even better? How could the new office be anything but a success?

Tengbom HQ in Stockholm 4

”We are very proud of this work place. I think it is brave of us to have fewer desks than we have employees but we did not take the decision lightly: all decisions are based on internal investigations of requirements. Instead, we have many alternative workplaces. We feel confident of our decisions at the same time as we are not afraid of new solutions or changes in the future. The most important thing is a vibrant and enthusiastic work place”, cording to Johanna Munck af Rosenschöld.