OUTSIDE THE BOX

摘要

We all work in offices of one kind or another. Yet office buildings -with rare historic exceptions such as Somerset House or the original Uffizi in Florence, both now cultural rather than administrative centres- tend not to receive a great deal of critical attention. It was not always like this. For a time in the 1980s, the developing architecture of offices was positively exciting, what with the rediscovery of the atrium, the adoption of fast-track building techniques, the invention of the business park, clever conversions of former industrial buildings, and all manner of technical studies covering everything from optimum floorplate dimensions to ergonomic desk and chair design. Remember trading floors? Remember all those problems with computer-cabling and heat dissipation? Remember ionisers?