Books

Over the past hundred years, the office has been integral to the development of modern society. It has shaped the architecture of our cities, the behaviour of our organizations and the everyday movements of millions of people. In 2020, however, the global pandemic brought our attendance in the office to an abrupt halt and triggered a complete re-evaluation of the purpose of the workplace. This book offers a panoramic view of the office and explores what happens next. The authors advance a manifesto for ‘unworking’ – unlearning old habits and rituals established for an outdated office and creating new ones fit for an age of digital technology, design innovation and diverse workforces.

Space to Work explores how the office is being reinvented to respond to the imperatives of knowledge work, as well as the changing social imperatives and technology of the new millennium. Setting its 43 international case studies within a unique conceptual matrix that provides a framework for thinking about new strategies for reinventing office space, the book identifies four ‘realms’ for knowledge work – the learning campus (ACADEMY); the professional cluster (GUILD); the public workplace (AGORA) and the live-work setting (LODGE).

This first comprehensive survey of workplace design for the new century 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.

A survey of the latest design and architecture solutions for the modern workplace.

Time & Motion re-examines the relevance of our traditional notions of the eight-hour day – in particular, the effects of digital technology on patterns of working life and on digital public space – and seeks to redefine our understanding of working life by documenting and describing contemporary artworks commissioned on this theme, providing some theoretical building blocks with essays by key thinkers in the field.

The resurgence of interest and investment in public architecture has inspired a new generation of “magnet” buildings and interiors. This work examines more than 50 of the most outstanding of these projects, including libraries, museums, town halls, a synagogue, swimming baths, an aquarium and an embassy. The text chronicles the progress of a new spirit in design and architecture of public spaces and reveals how the traditional forms of the buildings are being reinvented by architects and designers around the world.

Based on a five-year research project between the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at the Royal College of Art and Haworth, this book sets out a template for the future of the workplace, taking lessons from the knowledge interactions of the academic library, the emotional landscapes of stage design, flexible temporary events in the city and intensive team environments in air traffic control and emergency medical departments.

International Interiors provides a well-documented survey of worldwide commercial interior design projects completed between 1997 and 1999. Myerson provides a selection of 48 schemes covering a wide range of interiors, grouped according to function: offices, restaurants, bars, clubs, hotels, shops and leisure facilities.

New developments in technology, radical changes in the global economy, and the relentless pursuit of productivity have altered forever our organizations, careers, and lifestyles. In this striking sequel to his best-selling book The Age of Unreason, Handy identifies the unintended consequences of change and provides a set of guiding principles to cope with the paradoxes of modern life, leading to a more balanced existence for individuals, greater rewards for organizations, and a more just society for all.

We will not survive unless we adapt to the way the world is changing. The Age of Unreason is an inspiring vision of an era of new discoveries, new enlightenment and new freedoms. It helps us to understand what Tom Peters, the American business guru, has called the new ‘upside down’ competitive realities in the world of work and of leisure. It is a book to turn your understanding of the world on its head.