The office is everywhere. Now what?

Hans Hollein already anticipated this phenomenon 50 years ago. Equipped with a drawing board and telephone, the architect set up his “mobile office” – a pneumatic transparent bubble – on a green airfield. In 1969, the performance was seen as a provocation. Today, the portable workplace is hardly surprising. Since the “lockdown”, the “home office” in particularhas been adopted and even appreciated by many around the world.

Never before have living and working come so spatially close to each other as they do today. But a home office only “works” if the setting permits. That’s why we need answers to important questions: What kinds of layouts and typologies are suited to both living and working? How will this novel alliance impact urban planning in the future?

This issue of DETAIL magazine highlights current examples of combined living and working, often in vibrant urban quarters. The strict functionalist order of the city is passé. What matters is that everything you need is just around the corner. After all, we are digitally and globally connected all the time anyway. But true quality of life isn’t on the screen, it’s in the variety of experiences and encounters in the analogue urban space at our doorstep.

The office is everywhere. Now what?

Hans Hollein already anticipated this phenomenon 50 years ago. Equipped with a drawing board and telephone, the architect set up his “mobile office” – a pneumatic transparent bubble – on a green airfield. In 1969, the performance was seen as a provocation. Today, the portable workplace is hardly surprising. Since the “lockdown”, the “home office” in particularhas been adopted and even appreciated by many around the world.

Never before have living and working come so spatially close to each other as they do today. But a home office only “works” if the setting permits. That’s why we need answers to important questions: What kinds of layouts and typologies are suited to both living and working? How will this novel alliance impact urban planning in the future?

This issue of DETAIL magazine highlights current examples of combined living and working, often in vibrant urban quarters. The strict functionalist order of the city is passé. What matters is that everything you need is just around the corner. After all, we are digitally and globally connected all the time anyway. But true quality of life isn’t on the screen, it’s in the variety of experiences and encounters in the analogue urban space at our doorstep.