How do you handle working alongside a noisy neighbor in the office? What are the best chairs for a call center? How can a worker get the most from her time on a commuter train?

Work is much more than sitting at a desk or tapping away at a computer. Yes, the office remains the hub of what we call work, but it also happens at home, on the subway or airplane, in a far-flung hotel room or a nearby coffee shop. And work is being shaped by products that make the worker more efficient, comfortable, happy and connected. Workplaces Magazine follows everything that makes work happen, from the latest ergonomic office chair to the hottest mobile phone. Yet it is about much more than products. Workplaces Magazine also follows the latest trends about healthy workplaces and new workstyles.

The first issue of the new monthly magazine Workplaces is available for free.

Get your free copy at bellow.press >

The modern office is nothing like it used to be 10 years ago. Due to advances in technology, work has become more flexible and fluid, and the ways employees and supervisors communicate is a lot more mobile thanks to social media and various communication oriented apps.

The last few years, we’ve seen how many more workers aren’t required to come in to the office anymore, and how those that do make use of flexible workspaces are a far cry from the mundane cubicles of yesteryear.

Read the article on officingtoday.com >

In 1999, the movie Office Space lampooned the ubiquitous grey office cubicle. Fast-forward more than a decade and a half later, and tech companies are more likely to look like sleek open warehouses with lines of workstations and Aeron chairs or standing desks.

Read the article on fastcompany.com > 

At global design firm CannonDesign, architects, engineers, futurists, and researchers create everything from college dorms and rec centers, to hospitals, baseball stadiums, libraries, and science laboratories.

Read the article on boston.com >

The word wellness can be loosely translated into Chinese as 养生 (yǎng shēng), which literally means “nurturing life.” It implies a very gentle, well-rounded approach to a wholesome lifestyle. It calls to mind a sexagenarian doing tai chi at dawn or sipping herbal tea in the afternoon.

“It’s not a perfect translation,” said Cathy Gu, a Gensler design strategist in Shanghai. Because while the pursuit of longevity has a long standing tradition in China, workplace wellness is just starting to gain traction. “This is why we’re doing the research, because there isn’t a perfect translation,” said Keiko Toishi, a practice area leader for health and wellness. The two are part of a design strategy team in Shanghai dedicated to translating the wealth of knowledge in Gensler’s Workplace Performance Index for the Chinese market.

Read the article on gensleron.com >