Co-design for the common good: a holistic approach to workspace projects

The design of workplaces that are both quantitatively and qualitatively aimed at creating the right work environment is a topic of extreme interest, at various levels. Starting from the indications of the International Labor Organization (ILO, 2022), it is essential to preserve, or establish, models that encourage a healthy lifestyle, in safe, and enhancing environments. Elements such as perception of space, cognitive psychology, semiotics, and anthropology, become essential drivers to design contemporary workplaces: our society is constantly changing and, consequently, so are the spaces that define and characterize it. Due to the radical change that are modifying the idea of work, a great transformation is being witnessed: time assumes a preponderant role in the definition of working environments, which must be constructed considering this dimension, that goes alongside the spatial one, in turn redefining the very concept of work. In light of these introductory considerations, the contribution proposes the examination of different case studies that highlight the evolution of workspaces and environments and the best practices in the present, to create projects consistent with the new needs of workers, companies and, more generally, of society. An approach based on a mix of of Co-Design (Sanders and Stappers, 2008) and Design for the Common Good (Dorst et al., 2016) can thus be effective to introduce the principles of inclusivity and care. Co-Design makes it possible to actively involve all stakeholders, such as companies and workers, by aligning their ideas towards a common goal, with the aim of defining some of the criteria that will affect future project developments. The Design for the Common Good (DftCG), born as an evolution of Design for All and based on the concept of the common good (Hussain, 2018), becomes fundamental to design in favor of communities, spaces and places. The contribution concludes, therefore, with the proposal of a vision, derived from a collaborative project actually carried out with an Italian company, that highlights the role of Design as a facilitator of complex realities and activator of innovative processes capable of triggering social and behavioral transformations.