Research - Environmental Psychology - Work Space Culture (week 1)

In today’s competitive market we demand better quality work spaces. Until recently, the design of office buildings conformed to older work models. Traditionally, workers are required to perform rather than to think.  People were centered within a spaces in order to be supervised, access work tools, and have barrier between work and their other activities. With the changes in the 21st Century, especially since the rise of the startup culture, those conditions are becoming ineffective

With advances in computers and technology, people no longer need to be gathered in enclosed offices to physically work together. People are starting to seek for career options, as opposed to just a job, as part of life choices. And the lines between work and personal life is dissolving: people work at all hours, build a social life at work, and even sleep and eat at work if necessary.

Being one of the dominant player of the new startup generation in Silicon valley, Google corporation is a good model for the new era of workplace culture that many companies, like facebook, adobe, and Yodle, are following. One of the most dominant features that Google introduces is the social aspect of the workplace design. This plays through opening up spaces and creating social facilities for people to “collide” and interact with each other.