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Unworking
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Unworking

The Reinvention of the Modern Office

Jeremy Myerson and Philip Ross
Reaktion, 2022

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Eye Opening
  • Visionary
  • Hot Topic

Recommendation

While the offices of large corporations may look serene on the surface, underneath they are struggling to adapt. Workers are fed up with rigid, hostile workplace structures. What will a workplace adapted to the opportunities and challenges of the new world of work look like? Jeremy Myerson and Philip Ross analyze the shifting role of the office since the early 20th century, and speculate on its ongoing evolution. This part-historical, part-exploratory study will appeal to anyone preparing for the future of the workplace, either as a user or provider of the office as a service.

Take-Aways

  • The modern office came into being over 100 years ago, as an extension of the factory floor.
  • Backlash against the machine-inspired modern office led to new designs aimed at making the workplace feel like a community.
  • The rise of the knowledge worker heralds the age of the distributed, networked office.

About the Authors

Jeremy Myerson is Professor Emeritus at the Royal College of Art in London, and futurist Philip Ross, current CEO of Ungroup, founded Cordless and the Worktech Academy. Together, they wrote three books: The Creative Office; The 21st Century Office; and Space to Work: New Office Design.

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