Few elements of our daily lives feel more static than the ho-hum office space. Whether inhabiting a corner suite or toiling away on a conventional corporate floor, offices have become, perhaps, our most unsurprising — and uninspiring — sphere.
Which is why the new book “Cubed: A Secret History of the Workplace” is such a revelatory read. Set for release this spring and written by n+1 magazine editor Nikil Saval, “Cubed” delves into the complex history of office spaces. Starting with the pre-Civil War “mercantile” era continuing on to the rise of the skyscraper, delving into the arrival of “open-plan” offices and ending with the high-tech “telecommuting” offices of the present (and future), Saval deftly links the evolution of business, politics, cultural mores and technology with old-fashioned architecture and interior design.
We spoke to Saval about his book — and his fascinating topic.
Why do offices still matter — particularly in this age of telecommuting?
Offices are now chiefly places where meetings happen and where many people get their best work done. For some folks, lawyers for instance, offices provide a structure unavailable at home. Offices are also important for building a sense of company culture — which is an intangible measure of organization, cooperation and mutual understanding.
What is the dominant trend now in office design?
The dominant ideology remains open-plan offices — which is hardly a new thing, but rather an older concept pioneered by German designers more than 50 years ago. But despite their popularity with companies, open-plan offices are not always favored by actual workers. People surveyed often find them noisy and lacking privacy — as places that are difficult to concentrate and hard to focus.
So why the continued prevalence of open-plan designs?
Bosses find them conducive for serendipitous encounters and increased social interactivity — even if this is not always the case in reality. Open-plan offices also offer financial benefits — which is another reason they prevail.
Are offices reflections of their companies?
Offices today are more reflections of a company’s founders — and their founding vision — than the majority of actual workers, often reflecting systems of hierarchy and control.
But surely, there must be offices that do consider workers as much as employers?
For sure. During my research, I looked at the offices of companies such as GitHub, which is based in San Francisco, and Interpolis, which is located in Holland and found that their offices were really well thought-out and considered. These are the kinds of companies that make room for the sheer variety of work now taking place in offices while simultaneously not insisting that folks actually come into the office to work. This is really office-design at its most progressive.
With the rise of telecommuting and shared-work, will offices ever become obsolete?
Well, as long as real estate speculation encourages the development of new office towers, offices will always remain popular. In fact, even though we now have more office space than we know what to do with, new offices are still being built. Still, the way we use offices is shifting. The growth of casualized labor, for instance, has made the notion of “single-tenant” offices less relevant and less financially justifiable.
What else is affecting offices today?
Shared offices are really shifting how we think of the work-place — as evidenced by projects such as Grid70 in Grand Rapids, Mich., which is more of a “creative hub” than conventional office environment. These types of projects speak to offices as no longer containers for single organizations. Rather, they’re places to generate creative ideas.
And what about technology?
What technology does is allow folks today to work anywhere — not just in the office. And what this means is a shift in the notions of productivity and assertion of autonomy. Technology says I don’t need to necessarily work while being watched by the boss. Rather, I need to work in a way — and in a place — where I can get my best work done!