The 21st Century Office

Book excerpt: This first comprehensive survey of workplace design for the new century, this book captures emerging themes and ideas in office architecture and interiors around the world. Written and researched by the authors of The Creative Office, it advances the concept of increasing creativity in planning and design by exploring the new workplace models that are developing in response to rapid organisational, social and technological change. In the introduction the authors discuss how the new workplace of the 21st century is already exhibiting different spatial, organizational and material characteristics from the scientifically managed, process-driven, mechanistic model of the 20th century modern office. This is followed by four thematic chapters that illustrate the key new trends through 45 international case studies.