In This Vision of a Healthier Workplace, Sitting Is Not Allowed

By Kim Lachance Shandrow | Dec 16, 2014
RAAF (Rietveld Architecture-Art-Affordances)

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Newsflash: . Today, the typical office worker sits at a desk for 7.5 lethargic hours a day, dramatically increasing the risk of obesity, heart disease, colon cancer, Type 2 Diabetes and depressingly more.

Humans aren’t designed for this much sitting around and it’s become painfully obvious, thus the recent rise of standing desks and even this ridiculous human-sized hamster wheel.

Related: What’s Really Killing You (and It Isn’t Ebola)

Clearly, sitting for hours on end is killing us and that’s not something we should, well, take sitting down. Dutch visual artist isn’t. She’s literally taking a stand against the dangers of sitting at work.

In an edgy new exhibit at Amsterdam’s , somewhat fittingly titled “The End of Sitting,” Visser and her cohorts at RAAAF (Rietveld Architecture-Art Affordances) envision a more active, upright office environment. Well, mostly.

Their futuristic interior design/modern art hybrid visualizes the death of cubicle-itis and the birth of “an experimental work landscape.” It’s a crammed, simulated office expanse that’s reminiscent of a skateboarding park and completely void of those classic enablers of poor circulation and poor posture — desks and chairs.

Related: 5 Reasons to Get Off Your Butt at Work

In their place are an array of bulky, of what might be concrete. We hope they’re made of something softer and more comfy. Not too comfy, though. After all, Visser created the unfortunately drab slabs to encourage exhibit visitors to experiment with various working positions, ideally standing. Oddly, though, some are pictured — gasp! — , a cardinal sin even we pajama pants-clad telecommuters wouldn’t be caught dead doing. Others are even, go figure, sitting.

To see Visser’s slouchy yet promising vision for the future office, stand up and watch the mute concept animation below:

Related: 8 Tips for Staying Healthy in an Open Office

Newsflash: . Today, the typical office worker sits at a desk for 7.5 lethargic hours a day, dramatically increasing the risk of obesity, heart disease, colon cancer, Type 2 Diabetes and depressingly more.

Humans aren’t designed for this much sitting around and it’s become painfully obvious, thus the recent rise of standing desks and even this ridiculous human-sized hamster wheel.

Related: What’s Really Killing You (and It Isn’t Ebola)

Kim Lachance Shandrow • Former West Coast Editor

Kim Lachance Shandrow is the former West Coast editor at Âé¶¹Éç.com. Previously, she was a... Read more

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