The Metal Office Furniture Co. opened its business in Grand Rapids, MI, in 1912 with a brand-new factory devoted to furnishing the office of the future. Its founder, Peter Wege, and several years later his partners Walter Idema and David Hunting, had the vision to perceive that the world of work was in a state of transition. The invention of the typewriter, telephone, telegraph, duplicating machine and elevator, not to mention electricity, created new demands for furniture and storage in the office environment. Metal furniture captured the attention of the government for its fireproofing and safety properties at a time when most office furniture was still made of wood and new multi-story structures being built for corporate offices required special regulations for fire hazards.

The world is not in need of
another "desking" system at a time
when the office as we know it is
virtually transforming itself into
another modality through fax, modem,
computer and fiber optic technology.

From this small beginning, Wege, Idema and Hunting directed the development of a company which ultimately became an industry giant -- Steelcase -- and today posts sales of more than $3 billion a year. What is interesting about the successful launching of Steelcase is that it was founded on the premise of being alert to the matters of the day, whether it was on the factory floor or in customers' offices. The fledgling company broke ground in the way it thought about doing business. It introduced the first trade catalog with photographic illustrations. It established profit sharing for workers. Its leadership was known as risk-takers ready to seize upon new ideas to enhance operations. The company slogan, "Found Where Business Succeeds," fueled an advertising program aimed at breaking down old habits in the 1920s when wood still dominated the market.

By 1935, Steelcase filing equipment was designed with an adaptation of the Wege patented drawer suspension "to never wear out," and the company's storage cabinets were advertised as a way of keeping order and eliminating damage to office supplies. In 1936, Frank Lloyd Wright's Johnson headquarters office system manufacturered by Steelcase was the forerunner of systems furniture in the second half of the century. Then came "convertiwalls," stacking chairs, swivel chairs and all the other "firsts" that made news in office furniture, and which laid the foundation for "work" as we know it today.

Consistent with his father's visions at the beginning of the century, Peter Wege, currently vice chairman of the board of Steelcase, continues the family tradition of being a pioneer of his time. While many of us may get blindsided by issues we think are matters of the day, Wege is out on the leading edge, blazing a trail where others fear to follow. And just as people were skeptical of his father's outrageously modern visions of office furniture and equipment at the turn of the century, Wege, too, is used to fighting for his beliefs in how the future will unfold. His principle mission goes beyond the office, however, to the world surrounding the office. One day in the 1940s, as a World War II pilot in a plane circling Pittsburgh, PA, he faced the scary reality that because of air pollution from the steel industry, he couldn't see to land. From that moment on, his focus moved to ecology and for the last 50 years, his contributions to this effort are extraordinary. He founded The Center for Environmental Study, and helped to found the National Pollution Prevention Center at the University of Michigan. He convinced industries whose factories were polluting the Grand River to clean up their act. Over the decades, the Wege Foundation became known worldwide for its leadership in promoting responsible technology, and Wege's latest book Economicology addresses the relationship of economics, technology and ecology "for the unlimited future."

Demonstrating by example, Wege also has commissioned architects and designers to bring appropriate thinking to the building types most needed today. His Wege Foundation office is a renovated old structure in a marginal area in downtown Grand Rapids on the site of his father's first home. The Franciscan Life Process Child Development Center in Lowell, MI, is a community resource that provides preschool programs, parent counseling, music therapy, music education, integrated learning experiences, artist in residence opportunities, horticultural activities and collaborative care for aging individuals. Built on a farm where people can feel the earth and sky, field and forest, this center was designed gracefully and appropriately for its purpose with photovoltaic solar cells on the roof and a wind generator providing more than half of the energy needs of the occupants. More recently, Wege, as chairman of the board of trustees of Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, spearheaded the rehabilitation of turn-of-the-century stables on the college estate into a student union facility. Sensitive design decisions ensured that the historic building gracefully retains its original character and quality, while being brought into service for the current college population.

This past May, Wege assembled an array of world-class authorities to discuss matters of the day at a conference in Grand Rapids. They included Barry Asmus, senior economist at the prestigious National Center for Policy Analysis, Dr. Paul Maycock, physicist and editor of PV News, Robert Pratt of the Detroit Edison Co. and Dr. Stanford Ovshinsky, holder of 178 patents and a pioneer in the development of nickel metal hydride batteries for electric vehicle manufacturing, thin film solar cells and optic memory.

What has this lineup and Wege's mission got to do with the design industry? Everything! Hopefully it will jog everyone's thinking as to what are really the critical matters of our day. The world is not waiting for another kind of arm on an office swivel chair. The world is not in need of another "desking" system at a time when the office as we know it is virtually transforming itself into another modality through fax, modem, computer and fiber optic technology. The world does not need another "fully loaded" automobile with upgraded daylights when the ozone layer is being so depleted by gasoline emissions that it is causing catastophic changes in world climate patterns.

As we walked around NeoCon this year, once again virtually no new ground-breaking products are offered, although many designers (some even working with companies for as long as five years) complain that their ideas have been sought, prototyped, put on hold and never seen again. Could this state of affairs be telling us something? Have we really got our eyes accurately focused on the future?

Recently, in a visit to the Kendall College of Art & Design in Grand Rapids, Sir Terence Conran voiced a strong message to students to seek out the real issues of the day. "There is much still to be done, many products still to be designed, but they need new thinking," he said. Conran, like Wege, is backing electric car development and is sponsoring the new British Bluebird car which aims to set a new electric car speed record of 250 mph in 1997.

Just because the world of office work has been a major market for the design industry for most of this century, it does not mean that this should continue for the next century. "There's a turning point now," says Wege. Providers of design ideas and services must look at new landscapes and seek new horizons. Just like the founding Wege did in the early days and his son is doing in his own characteristic way today.

Related Articles » Good Design Is Good Customer Service » How Interior Design Improves Productivity » A New Experience for Home Offices » Design team creates new statement in a familiar place. » Art Deco Echo » What Does a Designer Actually Do? » Eco Design Matters: What's Green? » No More Great American Lunch Hours » Design for Disability » Understanding Disabilities