PROJECTS & HOSPITALITY
PEOPLE
I mean Central European countries, to be shaken up and stop postponing changes. The first question to ask is, why should people return to working in offices? The answer is, because we want to do it, not because we need to do it. That’s the magic. The knowledge-based workplace of tomorrow is a temple of values, purpose and belonging. Considering that we’ve all learned that remote work is less scary than we said it was for years, now we have new and valid options for places to work besides the classic head office or headquarters, be it at home, in decentralized hubs or coworking spaces. We’re going to start seeing less concentration-based spaces, where the traditional desk is less important, and we’ll focus more on everything that starts with “co”: collaboration, co-creation, communications -- everything that can be done together, which can foster a sense of identity and belonging. The office of tomorrow is a social space, it’s a cultural project rather than a facility-management project. We like to say that identity is the new facility. This is the big theme. Change has been constant and it’s accelerating for all of us, everywhere. So, we don’t really know how we’re going to be working in, Ippolito Fleitz Group office, Stuttgart, Germany
32 | IFDM
say, five years’ time. Our tools are changing constantly, miniaturization and mobilization are still evolving. As we move from departments towards a more matrix-based, process-oriented way of working, we need to create something that’s both agile and has more character. The negotiation between identity and agility is at the core of workplace design because we’ve all learned that we’re looking for our individuality. We don’t want to be just a number or a part of the system; we want to use the efficiency of the system. So, we have to create a system that doesn’t look like a system. We have the chance to create architecture or interiors that not only enable flexibility but can also be spaces where people are less scared about change because they see opportunity in them. We’ll also be focusing far more on wellbeing, sound solutions and sustainability, responding to our need to connect to nature and experience ourselves in our physical presence in an increasingly virtual world since technology has deprived us of nature. In this accelerated world we are concerned about our health. All of this plays a key role in introducing a totally different language to workplace architecture.
Peter Ippolito
