People's workspace. How architecture can help us work (better)

How we designed and conceived our “workspaces” changed over the years, as new economical, sociological, and technological trends had to be accommodated. Today, the knowledge economy, the gig economy, and information and communication technologies demand new and innovative architectural solutions. The focus is now, more than ever before, on employees, on their needs, health, and wellbeing. The debate is lively, as a clear idea of what works best, and what is the best new solution for workspaces is still far from being outlined. This work tries to analyze this topic from a different perspective. Drawing from the available literature in psychology, sociology, healthcare design, and similar disciplines, an overview of the different needs of the workforce is proposed. The goal is to provide architects and designers with a basic understanding of how spaces can shape people’s experience, and how workspace architecture can promote health, wellbeing, productivity, engagement, and many others. From here, some of the most common spaces where work is conducted are analyzed, to understand which needs they can optimally answer, and where they might become problematic. Finally, a new perspective is proposed, as well as a short manifesto for a better way of approaching workspace design.