Artistic Excitement in the Business World

   ~ by BEVERLY KOSKI

Yes, I am lucky because most folks would not have had the opportunity to see what I saw, last Sunday. It was the U.S. Memorial Day week-end, so it was unusually quiet throughout the Microsoft headquarters located in Redmond, WA. My daughter has been working there for two decades. Her work centers upon protecting users from the nasty threats associated with technology usage and other dangers such as online internet identity theft. TwC is the acronym for trustworthy computing, the name of the division that she works within. Her office is located in a particular building focused upon this discipline. The large area that she planned to show me, takes up most of one floor and is an environmentally conscious delight.

Flashing her identity card against the scanner, the door slid open. The first thing that struck me was that the area became lit as we entered. I learned that this means the building is "smart". The tiled floor is composed of re-cycled material, as are the walls. The reception area was furnished with simple armless chairs of ergonomically shaped bamboo, the laminations of which are plainly visible. Along one wall is a log, which I guessed to be ten feet long. De-barked, smoothed and varnished, it stood upon supports allowing it security for seating at a height of say, 18 inches. Three old chair backs were attached, rediscovered from somewhere and dating from the 1930s or 1940s. It wasn't necessary to plane out three seating areas; when I sat on the log, I found myself pleased with the comfort. Moving on to the work areas - should I call them cubicles - I found some walls covered with heavy paper that was shaped and pressed to lend convex and concave surfaces to reflect the changing light throughout the day. Strikingly painted in bright colours such as lime green, it was amusing to speculate upon the distraction it might present to someone trying to puzzle through a problem presented on the monitor at right angles to this artistic presentation. Large windows throughout, made artificial lighting almost unnecessary, even on gray days. Plants responding to natural light, were large and healthy looking. One small room was furnished with a reclining chair, complete with foot stool; the room lighting was a pale green hue (apparently, a rest area available to any, who found themselves feeling the need to retreat from some stressful moment). Everywhere bamboo desks and tables were the norm, above which paintings from the extensive Microsoft art collection hung. Helpfully, a small dog kennel occupied a corner in the space, where a person in need of an aid animal worked. White boards of very large size covered other walls, where sills held the washable ink pens. Scrawled upon these surfaces were the numbers and designs that one would expect from a technical company striving to constantly solve and innovate. But what put a smile on my face, were the occasional drawings of faces around the perimeter: some quizzical, some serious, but all light hearted. One image needed ears; these I was compelled to add!


   ~ Beverly J. Koski, May 2011