A critical prospect into working spaces for immaterial labour

Abstract

Offices, the workplace of immaterial labour, have evolved in various ways since the early 1900s. As a result of mobility that emerged with globalization, people started to use not only offices but also various places such as cafes and airports as workspaces and the concept of office has become more flexible. In the changing world, labour was no longer rigid, but flexible. Is architecture, which failed to fulfil its ideological mission after serving capitalism, able to respond the need of this flexible labour? Are the flexible spaces created by parametric design able to meet the need of flexible labour? Are architects going to be able to serve as ideologues of the society again through the forms they create with parametric design? In this study, starting from the concept of belonging, firstly the importance of place is investigated to understand the concepts of sense of belonging and alienation. Then, capitalism as the basis of today's work life and its processes are argued. Afterwards, movies are investigated to visualize the evolution of office spaces in order to see the change in office spaces. Finally, today's social structure, business life and the role of architecture are discussed with the influences of Tafuri, Sennett and Schumacher and through the movies (with future prospects), the expectations of the office users and the lifestyle predictions; the recommendations are made for future office spaces.