Office

摘要

The office is a close relative of the factory. Both are the offspring of the industrial revolution. The latter amplified some phenomena already underway: at least since the Middle Ages, there was widespread use of machinery and contraptions to create objects. The production was directed by "entrepreneurs", who organised the work of others and advanced resources. But the industrial revolution also marked clear discontinuities: one of the most evident regards space. It was then that people began assembling workers under the same roof so as to supervise them better and more efficiently. Previously, the entrepreneur subcontracted the creation of components piecework and would use specialised collaborators, who managed their own work in shops adjacent to their homes. The industrial revolution distanced the domestic environment and production. The principles assimilated in large factories were then extended to the service sector. Gathering employees in adjoining rooms, in order to make them work together better, had enormous advantages. But the organisation and the organisation of space can change, because needs and goals change and because in this environment new ideas can emerge. For some people who have a creative job, by now the "office" is a laptop resting on a Starbucks table. When we were hit with the pandemic, and we had to hurry and learn about "smart working", we thought we were indeed on the threshold of another revolution. One year later, the percentage of CEOs who consider keeping remote work in place permanently, even after Covid-19, has now gone down to one-third. But these are unstable balances. You are what you eat, but you are also where you work. The evolution of technology and of society will make offices a concept that is increasingly more hybrid and plural.