INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: FUTURE WORK PLACE | Carmen VAZQUEZ MORENO

It may seem that seven years is not much time, but looking back seven years ago, things were very different, especially in the field of technology and in the way of working. We are talking about 2006, internet was already a reality, but videoconferences were barely used. Cell phones were just used to make calls and to send some messages, we hardly made online purchases, digital signatures had not been developed, and files were not shared either. Those are just some of the most significant advances of the last 7 years. Now, the point is to try to imagine how we will continue progressing, what new products will end up in our hands to make our lives easier and how we will work in 2020. We will improve towards a society where flexibility at work could be the key to one´s freedom, and new technologies will enable us to keep in touch easily and to work from home, on a trip, or from any other place. There is still much that must be done: actually, we haven´t been able to develop the capability to work anywhere in a sustainable way yet. I believe that we will stop using paper, printers and ink in the near future. Every document will be digital. We will create, modify, sign and so on directly in touchscreens. All our documents and computer programs will be online on a “cloud” that could be unblocked from anywhere with a code. In this way, empty computers will be able to exist and they will be activated when a user logs in, loading his or her own settings, and all will be cleared once the user has finished. One of the key points for energy saving is a decrease in transport time to the workplace. Each day, millions of people travel to and from their offices to carry out work that could be done from home or from any other place, in most of the cases. We just need a good internet connection and the proper means to achieve all our potential. My proposal envisioning a way of work that let the people of diferents ocupations work together in the same place, and share opinions and knowledge. This new concept creates new interacting places for the citizen, places where neighbours can share every moment). A new place to enjoy and work, where meetings, lectures, and a lot of cultural activities could take place. Such as watching a film, visiting an exposition, celebrating any important date, or seeing dance o theatre. A diaphanous, multifunctional and versatile construction where people could exchange knowledge and hobbies with others. A new public building concept. A place to make the citizen involved in his neighbourhood. Thinking about save time, a new conceptions appear. consists of setting up what I usually call “Neighbourhood Offices” , that is, designing multifunctional spaces, where the neighbours can work daily without having the duty of going to their workplaces. This would save a large quantity of gas and would create greater connection among the neighbours. These places could work as offices during the day and as cultural centres at other hours. They could also admit multiple labour or recreational activities, because their furniture will be flexible for doing whatever we want and adaptable to the needs of each activity. At present, there is already a trend towards these kinds of offices together with “Coworking”, although they are usually used by small enterprises or the self-employed who establish their central offices in these types of spaces. If we combine the digital flexibility of an empty computer with the flexible furniture that we have already talked about, we reach our prototype.