Reading Summary:

Kaufmann-Buhler presents her dissatisfaction with the presentation of gender roles in the American workplace, especially how these roles are enforced subliminally through the selection of office furniture. She states that the presupposed office structure dictated the creation of the hierarchical form of modern office furniture.

As the office space was being redesigned, furniture soon followed suit. The standardization of the male and female gender in the charts of “Joe” and “Josephine” by Henry Dreyfuss became popular with designers. However, this standardization and optimization of office furniture led to the perpetuation of gender roles and norms within the workspace. Many issues with the furniture related to how the pieces positioned posture differently from men and women. Traditionally men had higher desks and comfier furniture designed for working and lounging while women were granted lowered desks with typing attachments and chairs that forced a more upright and tasked posture.

This hierarchy of gender dictated the comfort of the users, whether it was a man or woman. Typically, men held executive positions while women resorted to secretary positions. When women held executive positions, they were faced with the task of balancing the expectation of masculinity in power without abandoning their identity. Typical furniture such as the Zapf executive chair was designed for the standard male form, leading to the discomfort of many women as proportions were not right who were expected to use the chair. The same principle applied to men in secretary positions, as the provided furniture was not fit to their height or proportion.

Building Analysis:

The Bier Stein is a restaurant located in the southern region of Eugene. It is a Bavarian-style restaurant prioritizing the selection of specialty beers and bar-style food. The interior features an open floorplan seldom broken with columns and a fixed central all round access bar.

The remaining space is arranged around the central bar, with various areas of seating. The furniture ranges are diverse. Booth seating is showcased around the windows and northwest region of the interior. Bar seating is found opposing the eastern side of the bar where orders are placed. Filling in the remainder of the space is a grid of tables from standard height to counter level with raised chairs. This variety of furniture helps accommodate all body forms without drawing while remaining ambiguous.

By taking advantage of the window wall, booth seating allows for a larger individual to be seated comfortably as compared to traditional chair seating. The included bar seating helps separate the people more interested in drinks than food and allows for a more direct ordering experience. The varying heights of tables help break up the monotony of the table grid while providing seating for taller individuals.

Overall, The Bier Stein presents a wide variety of seating to accommodate a plethora of different customers.

This view shows the layout of tables along with the variety of seating options provided to customers.