house that lou built reflects a new i.b.m. - electronic whiteboard

Lawrence zukeman.
1997 tomorrow is the official moving day of one of the most famous blue in the countrychip companies.
Although old houses and new homes are less than a mile apart, the huge differences between them suggest a fundamental change in the face of American businesses today. At 1964, when I. B. M.
Move into a large corporate headquarters on a hill in AMONK, New York. Y.
The company not only dominates the computer industry, but also is a model company in the United States today. -
In retrospect, there seems to be no face, gray, or even human nature for buildings and companies.
Tomorrow, when the international commercial machine company cuts the ribbon on a new, much smaller corporate home, the building will mark post-modern, layoffs, employees --
The era of empowerment represented by the company now.
The business world no longer functions as it was in the early days of the organizers, when the company headquarters was a symbol of strength and power, a magnificent fortress of the King, through insulated management minions, issued a decree to every corner of the Empire.
Today, the largest companies have fewer headquarters and fewer people handling some key tasks ---like long-
Long-Term Strategy and Finance-with the day-to-
Department managers at other locations can make decisions for the day.
Advertising and I. B. M.
In the new quarter, there is no detail more than the placement of the company's chairman's office that reflects the difference between the business world's architectural and managerial thinking in the 1960s s and after 90 s, Louis V. Gerstner Jr.
Old 420,000 ads-square-foot, 900-
Personal headquarters, sir.
Gerstner inherited when he joined the ailing company in 1993, working in a closed space at the end of a long no-pass office corridor.
Now, in the new headquarters he helped design
Gerstner and other executives took up Z-
The shape of the structure, most of the other 600 people work in the vast space, blocked by very few walls or doors. The 280,000-
The foot building is even thinner at the end so that the largest building area is near the center-where Mr.
Gerstner's office is
William Pedersen, partner of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, who designed the building, said: "The idea is to get as many people as possible close to him . ".
The use of the open floor plan and the latest technology highlights the collaborative work of employees who can bring portable PCs anywhere in the building and still have wireless connectivity to the Internet.
Rick Robinson, president of E-Robinson, said: "The functions of the company's headquarters have always been the same as the company's identity, all to support workers in the building . "
Lab, a Chicago design consultancy.
"Now," he said, "it is not reliability or reliability that people use headquarters to express, but rather, 'We are creative;
We are innovative.
We value our people.
It sounds obvious, but it wasn't until recently that the company started discussing the issue.
"Although both the old and new headquarters buildings are located at the same 432-
An acre of land, they are so different.
Old buildings designed by architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill are classic examples of corporate architecture in the Cold War era ---
There is no indication that it is home to a computer company, dominated by dozens of private offices, or that it is well suited to insurance companies, such as the original highest
Technology company.
However, the company added a glass gazeboesque entrance hall in 1984, which was not satisfied with the proper grandeur of the building.
However, even though I was redesigned. M.
Pei, this addition makes many people feel uncomfortable. fitting add-on --
Maybe it reflects my clumsy giant unconsciously. B. M. had become.
With the company in trouble in the 1980s and 1990s, with tens of thousands of layoffs and billions of dollars lost, its headquarters seems to reflect the decline as well.
The building lacks high-
High-speed network of personal computers.
Elevators are also aging rapidly, and escalators and elevators often fail.
On a Friday night two years ago, one of its appliances caught fire and covered most of the interior with thick black soot.
The new headquarters is Mr. 's vision.
Gerstner was invited in 1993 to turn the company around. At the time, I. B. M.
More than 100,000 people have been laid off and more than $7 billion have been lost. (
It will lose nearly $8 billion that year. )But under Mr. Gerstner, I. B. M.
The company's profits hit a record high and its share price quadrupled to $99.
$625 per share, up $3.
375 yesterday, after 2-for-1 split in May.
In his legendary chairman, Thomas J ·Watson Jr.
He remained influential from 1950s to 1971. B. M.
Began the tradition of hiring a World Like This.
Well-known architects Edward rabbis Barnes, Ludwig Smith van derot, and Ero saryn designed its architecture. But Mr.
Sold billions of dollars worth of I. B. M.
Since he came here, he is not interested in winning the design award.
"This is my building. B. M.
In an interview in a conference room adjacent to his new office, he said that the new office overlooks dense forests that climb up the edge of the building.
"This is not the building of an architect.
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Instead, the house on the floor reflects the new role that the headquarters building plays in today's business world.
It is not a monument, but a living example of a company's values. The two-
The story entrance hall with black granite floors and walls with stainless steel plates and copper leaf ceilings is beautiful but deliberately not flashy.
Its most notable feature is the glass and steel prow, which brings natural light and soar to the top floor, which is also a major feature of the new house.
To be sure, there are still benefits for top positions. Mr.
Gerstner and his main deputy have large private offices on the top floor of the third floor.
There is a private meeting room in each building. (Mr.
Gerstner's suite even comes with a shower. )
Most of the rest of the staff (
(Except for company lawyers)
Occupy an open compartment.
The ad says "I like to walk on the floor ". Gerstner said.
"Sharing happens in an open environment.
I think these values are important to me. B. M.
"Executives need privacy, he explains, because they see customers most of the day and often do sensitive tasks such as managing reviews.
However, he wants other employees to work in public to increase teamwork and communication.
In order to sell employees on the new layout, the company pays attention to making the workspace as attractive as possible.
Tables and file cabinets are made of beautiful blonde mahogany. Space-
Age black chair made of recycled plastic, can be adjusted according to any ergonomic fancy elegance of each compartment.
The ceiling and walls are filled to suppress the noise.
"We have to give people a sense of quality about space so they don't feel demoted," Richard a said . ".
Lead interior designer Carlson is the head of Swansea Hayden Cornell Partners in New York.
To make up for the lack of private space, there are several informal meeting locations and 38 meeting rooms distributed around the building.
Other amenities include
Dining room, outdoor terrace, gym and jogging trail through the woods.
But the first thing to attract is
Time visitors are immediately living halls of computing equipment displayed throughout the building. Mr.
Carlson combed it over. B. M.
Warehouse, hundreds of items from miso from 4000 B. C. to I. B. M.
A famous typewriter of about 1961 metres.
The exhibits also include a gold-plated black laminated French calculator in 1855, similar to a fine upright piano and I. B. M.
Electronic calculator for Selective Sequence in 1948-
A gray table top with threefoot-
High control panel consisting of switches and lights--
Probably in science in 1950s. fiction film.
These displays are a deliberate reminder to me. B. M.
The historical position in the computer industry.
But the company also wants the building to show off its future.
To not exceed the $75 million budget for the building.
Gerstner rejected the request for an underground parking lot and even brought some furniture from the old headquarters.
But he is not stingy with construction technology.
High advertising-
The capacity network connects each workstation to I. B. M.
The speed of the corporate network and the Internet is many times the speed of ordinary company connections.
The meeting room is full of multimedia equipment, including two huge TV monitors, laser discs, video tapes and audio cassette players, and of course a personal computer.
All of this can be controlled by the touch screen on the conference table.
The electronic whiteboard using a special pen with a laser reflector allows remote sharing of presentations, printing, or storage in a collaborative database.
'I hope the building will be a living example of the company's strategy, which is built around Web computing,' he said. Gerstner said.
As for the old headquarters, I. B. M.
It has been on sale since 1995, but no bids have been made so far. Mr.
Gerstner was talking about me. B. M.
Now "back to zero square", plan how to deal with the remains of the mountain.
"We may accept any reasonable offer," he said . "
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A version of this article appears on page D00001 of the National edition in September 17, 1997, with the title: The house built by Lou reflects a new I. B. M.