A
plan
to
escape
the
open
plan
I DON’T KNOW where you’re reading this text. But I can
tell you where I’m writing it: in an office. Our office. I feel
somewhat embarrassed as I type these words (on a laptop,
fortunately, and not on an old-fashioned desktop PC).
Because who’s still working in an office these days?
No interior typology is subjected to intenser scrutiny
than the office. Recent studies by Harvard, among others,
discredit the open-plan layout. For years the proponents
of open-plan workspaces believed that employees would
collaborate more efficiently if they were in a large space
without partitions. Undermining that idea is the current
situation, in which colleagues email one another instead of
engaging in face-to-face conversation. They also appear to
be less productive. Good reasons for Frame to challenge
a group of young designers to come up with alternatives.
Beginning on page 32, you can find the (surprising) results.
But no matter how avidly designers, researchers and
employers seek to improve the office, today’s seemingly
irreversible trend is to work, whenever possible, at home,
somewhere in the city or while travelling. This tendency
threatens to dilute the shared culture of companies, which
is what ultimately distinguishes the traditional office from
coffee bar and co: it represents in a physical way the norms
and values of a specific organization, brand or institute.
Approaching the Lab section of the issue you’re
holding, we wondered whether we’d find other options for
this particular facet of the office. Would we see signs of a
more institutionalized way of working that recognizes our
mobility as well as our place within a larger whole? The
signs are evident, and technology is certainly part of the
answer. A growing number of companies are utilizing VR
to build an environment that brings people together- even when they don’t occupy the same physical space.
Microsoft, on the other hand, relies not on technology but on
so-called porous offices. Realizing that today’s employees
are mobile, the company encourages them to work remotely
on occasion to keep a fresh mind, while also opening its
doors to freelancers and employees of other outfits.
Back to our office in Amsterdam. Open plan. Lots
of PCs. Not very porous. Ready for an overhaul, it seems.
ROBERT THIEMANN
Editor in chief10 EDITORIAL