Within an area of around 1,600 m2, A Joyful Sense at Work showcases this new concept of the workplace by creating a piazza virtually split into three “areas” or “regions” according to purpose: the Concentration area, a closed-off region and private space for individual work; the Sharing area, a short-stay region, a public space for collaboration, socializing and sharing; the Creative area, a space for innovation, invention and imagination, which converge in a large central piazza; and Porous Fabric, a filter space, an intermediate area between public and private, a place for opportunities and exchange.
The exhibition
The Water Cooler perfectly synthesises the concept by Primo Orpilla and Verda Alexander of Studio O+A: water as a perfect metaphor for the workspace of the future – water, like thought, takes on the form of a container.
The space is marked out into different areas, according to the needs and activities of the workers: an ice cave entered with the intention of surviving, in which each postural activity – crouching, lying down, standing up, moving – helps workers’ creativity to flow, like water.
Ahmadi Studio has come up with an adaptive and constantly evolving workspace, capable of bringing the personal and social spheres together to respond to their competing demands. The title of the project, Ham-Dasti, the Iranian word for complicity, underscores the assumptions underpinning the workplace of the future, in which dynamism, sharing, belonging and confidence create a working environment in which everybody can feel at ease. Arash Ahmadi has drawn inspiration from two iconic Iranian
spaces: the Persian garden, an intimate and private space, and the bazaar, a place of exchange and discussion, which mirrors the dynamism and variety of contemporary work and society.
The centrepiece of the installation – split into four micro-areas, welcoming, meeting, working and private – is a fixed element representing nature inside a vortex that expands upwards and extends throughout the spaces, generating a sense of belonging and a powerful connection between man, work and nature.
Ben van Berkel of UNStudio and SCAPE’s Jeff Povlo reflect on the condition of stress at work, to which contemporary man is exposed. RESET – Responsive Emotional Transformation – is a totally immersive and modular system that draws on two of the six scientifically proven ways of reducing stress in a playful and interactive way: intimacy, which inspires calm, and sound therapy.
Chronotopic System, the space designed by Alfonso Femia and Gianluca Peluffo of Studio 5+1AA, changes in relation to space and time.
There are two key elements: a meeting room that is see-through and circular, representing the origin, the fixed point; an intimate space, yet capable of relating to the visual connections between inside and outside, reminiscent of the patio of a Mediterranean home.
The second element, the video call cell, is an integral part of the “magic cube”, a dynamic element that changes shape to respond to every single requirement at any specific time. The interior is covered with corrugated cardboard, which has soundproofing qualities, thus guaranteeing superior acoustic performance and setting up a dialogue between matter and light, which characterises the entire project.
