In short, parts of the home become the office, and parts of the office become the home. But how should this square foot space be organized?
“It has to do with the way the amenity spaces are set up and how they are modified,” said Kimberly Petrides, Senior Associate and Director of Residential Interiors, FXCollaborative. “For example, some need complete silence and others need a small amount of background noise. Everything and everyone is connected to everything and everyone else.”
Rodriguez-Joglar pitched his idea of a dream project full of third place – maybe even a big third place. He explained that it is a city within a city. “Ideally you have a setup where the developer is building a campus: one is residential and one is an office. There is a central park, childcare, cafes, market and medical offices. You live and work in the same ‘city’ – it’s part of the way people think about the future” .
But far from this utopia, the pandemic has made office “collaborative spaces” more difficult. Rodriguez Guglar pointed out the technological challenge of making the conference room user-friendly for all employees, from young, tech-savvy employees to senior executives. “At best, you can enter the room with a simple app on your smartphone, and just swipe up you can show the required technology, be it a TV or a Zoom call. But it doesn’t happen that way. This is one of the biggest struggles we face.”
Petredis ended the session with a plea of sorts that the designers of the three spaces take into account human health, both physical and mental. “We design for mental health. Cool light works in some places, warm light works in others. And if you’re around materials that don’t release gases and destroy the Earth, you’ll feel better.”
Think Tank discussions were held on October 7, 14 and 21. The talks were presented in partnership with Arc-Com, LX Hausys, Versteel, GROHE and Arden Studio.