New Work Communities: From the Fordist Office to the Workplace 4.0

The organisational models orchestrated by Management Science for tertiary work and the spatial typologies in which it was carried out have been definitively challenged by the recent pandemic. From the pyramidal hierarchy that prevailed during the 20th century, we have moved to matrix-type and network-based management. Since the end of the 19th century, offices have seen a proliferation of environments such as the cellular office, the open space, the Bürolandschaft, the combi-office and the networking office. Each of these has proved revolutionary in its way, but none has become overriding the others. The most recent transformations of the workplace, accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, date back to the financial crisis of 2008, as well as to the use of information technology, which opened up new scenarios permeated by spatial and digital delocalisation. It is now necessary to investigate the new diffuse geography of workspaces: from traditional offices reconfigured to meet different spatial and organisational needs to co-working offices, from bars, hotel rooms, co-living spaces, public waiting rooms to the private home. In this extended vision, terms such as territory and community acquire a new value, becoming places of affirmation of the individual’s existence, of everyday life and of economic and public interests. Another “worksphere” seems no longer defined only by the physical office but expressed by the set of social, psychological and economic conditions, the technological tools, and the places in which people work. This geography of spaces grows within a vision of a city of proximity, where workplaces seek to maximise relationships between colleagues and enhance the workplace within. Architects and office designers have the task of creating inclusive frames for the post-pandemic workplace.