Via Tables, from $1,000 each, and Ottomans,from $500 each, all available at Bernhardt Design, 212-997-6600
WHILE SOME COMPANIES try to entice young talent with stair-adjacent slides and comic-book color schemes, a course offered at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., in partnership with Bernhardt Design company, has a simpler approach: Have students design the modern workplace themselves, one piece of furniture at a time.
“My roommate and I were spread out on our living- room floor, sketching ideas, and it occurred to me—why am I designing a bench when everyone I know ends up on the floor where there’s more space?” said Brooklyn, N.Y., native Alex Akopova, 21. Her Zip Chairs are one of six designs chosen to be featured at New York’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair this week and then put into production.