The Future of Work
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Future of Work Investigating the evolution of office work, and its impact on the urban environment. City / Building / Desk Downtown Los Angeles 1980-present: From Center of Command and Control to Neighborhood Firms deploying digital technologies to expand work space and time The Los Angeles Riots: widespread looting, assault, arson, and DIGIWhat mightT ALthe future ofAGE work look like and how could this reshape our cities? Rodney King beating murder occurred causing over $1 billion dollars of damage to the city Northridge Earthquake Without transit, LA’s poly-nucleated form relies 1993 1997 1999 on freeways and cars. Traffic congestion and 1980s 1990 The Metro Red Line opens The City of Los Angeles legalizes The Los Angeles City Council passes an smog denigrate Southern California's quality of All the large The light rail Metro downtown Los Angeles to home-based businesses, Adaptive Re-Use Ordinance -- encourages the life, and the public clamors for alternatives while department stores Blue Line opens in North Hollywood, via requiring them to register with redevelopment of buildings in the downtown seeking to protect suburban idylls from of downtown LA 1990 at a cost of Hollywood and the the city in order to pay city 1998 core that are either of “historic significance” increased density. Metro opens 22 years after the along Broadway US$877 million, Mid-Wilshire district business taxes The 1903 or “economically distressed.” CITY Having completed One streetcar system closes. Its wheel-and-spoke are closed 1987 connecting downtown Continental California Plaza, Two service pattern increases access to the former Moss vs. US Tax Court Los Angeles to Long Building in California Plaza opened with CBD while creating transit oriented development 1980s establishes the ability for Beach downtown is 1999 1980 opportunities near outlying stations 61 only 30% leased space, at a New financing vehicles commercial tenant 1995 Downtown Los Angeles converted into Staples Center time when the downtown are developed, which Conceived of as an office interior that lofts New modes of communication improvements to be Downtown is re-imagined through Sports Arena 2000 vacancy rate hovered around and rapid tran allow backing from a 1980s could morph into a myriad of sportation expensed as necessary the mixing of luxury residential opens The 1906 San Fernando Building in 25%--among the nation’s services support 24-hour wider array of sources – configurations, the conceptual operating cost repairs David Harvey’s “the high rises, green spaces and office downtown Los Angeles completes 1981 highest. Given the lack of global markets where including the newly Gehry's design framework behind the interior of this Economic Recovery Tax rather than capital regime of flexible towers, reversing both early zoning its conversion to lofts -- one of the demand for downtown office knowledge spreads quickly, developed commercial accumula for Chiat Day in advertising firm’s office relied on Act is enacted - expenditures, and are thus tion” and later redevelopment efforts to first to take advantage of the 1999 space, construction of new capital circulates rapidly, -backed-mortgage- begins – more readily Venice, Los correlating increased productivity encourages construction exempt from prohibitive create a homogenous corporate Adaptive Reuse Ordinance office buildings in the area and relationships span security and widely available Angeles is with an enhanced control of one's by allowing developers taxation levels As all kinds of resources landscape in the CBD. Civic leaders 1983 would come to a halt. The great distances capital pools and unconventional, own working environment. Taylorist to deduct taxes from 25% and information become and downtown boosters abandon One California Plaza construction hiatus would accumulates itself in 1993 as is the new concepts of efficiency are abandoned of the value of their 1985 more mobile, management efforts to re-establish the CBD and persist for a decade. Built as The LA Times reports that the form of of the firm becomes Chiat Day, system of as office work is increasingly seen as project Frank Gehry instead follow the cues to changing speculative office space, the 75% of downtown LA’s speculative real hot-desking that 1998 moments of collaboration, increasingly a question of housing preferences among a small Hayden Tract: generic, open floor plate is major properties are foreign estate Chiat day TBWA/Chiat Day information sharing, problem solving 1999 Umbrella Building logistics. As the friction of group of downtown residential as flexible and owned investments – a large introduces, and reflection, each of which Designed by Eric Owen distance is dissolved by pioneers, planners and developers. accommodating as office proportion backed by increased mobility and whereby no requires a discreet environment. Moss, the Umbrella BLDG 64, 65 Downtown is transformed into space architecture can be Japanese investors specific This office interior is conceived to Building, in Culver City’s enhanced access, DTLA by the addition of 15,000 employee has a 71 accommodate a range of Hayden Tract, is one of a downtown’s importance is housing units less about its character as particular or configurations, allowing the workers series of Westside office 1991 a place than about its individual desk 69, 70 to customize office environments to buildings seeking to satisfy Through digital Prodigy 72, 73 The telephone is now subsumed Ad for Radio Shack functioning as a node on their preferences a burgeoning market for technologies, firms Service ad into telecommunications, data 1987 Lightweight Handheld various networks 67 With limited demand for “creative offices;” colonize the domestic and downtown office space, the 2000 management and transmission New technologies increase the commercial spaces that Micron PC ad public realms as new notion of downtown as CBD is devices. The drive to unplug efficiencies of communication 'World Wide What?' news page seek to catalyze innovation, This advertisement workspaces, and lengthen largely abandoned. A through cloud computing, and transportation, and make Sophisticated yet affordable technologies curiosity, and risk-taking, to claims that in order 1981 the workday beyond its neighborhood emerges wireless communication, and Honeywell. 'What the Heck is Electronic Mail?' ad instant interaction in distant encourage office workers to stay connected to the challenge the status quo to work, all one traditional 9 to 5 bounds contactless energy—not the Long the iconic office appliance, the telephone is now 1980s places possible. These 1989 office even when they are not physically there, 1996 1997 among employees by needs is a more flexible raceways subsumed into telecommunications, data management and LA City institutes an Artist in technologies also produce the Regus hotel offices and provide firms with new forms of technological DEGW publishes its “Workstyle Cisco Systems offices in San creating fully immersive computer, a website advertised here—ultimately transmission devices. Desks and offices become temporarily Residence program - encourages expectations of 24-hour are founded in control over office workers. Controlling the 2000” - workplaces were to be open Jose opens - every employee office experiences 74 and a company car- expands firms’ spatial and cluttered with digital age appliances and infrastructure as some initial live-work reuse in commerce, on-call access to Brussels - seeks to technology and access to it, firms expand the and non-territorial, with no cellular has a tablet computer or a suggesting the temporal reach over workers and workers are increasingly disciplined through office the downtown area on a small, employees, and mobile fill the niche for accountability of office workers beyond the offices. Telecommuting and notebook computer, and no one ideal worker is a 75 1980 flexibility in managing them 62 technologies 63 experimental scale productivity 66 the mobile worker bounds of the traditional workday as well as working from home is encouraged has a designated personal desk nomad 68 DESK 1991 beyond the perimeter of the office workplace 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 MACHINE AGE ELECTRONIC AGE DIGITAL AGE MACHINE AGE MACHINE AGE ELECTRONIC AGE ELECTRONIC AGE DIGITAL AGE DIGITAL AGE AGE AL T DIGI 61: Future Rail Transit Network, 1983, photograph, Metro, <http://www.metro.net/about/library/archives/visions-studies/mass-rapid-transit-concept-maps/> 62: “Shaw Walker”, Progressive Architecture, January (1980): 77. 63: Honeywell: “What the Heck is Electronic Mail”, 1981, photograph, 2Spare, <www.2spare.com/item_92760.aspx> 64: One California Plaza, 1983, photograph, Glass Steel and Stone, <http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/Images/US/CA/LosAngeles/200801/1CaliforniaPlaza-Oct08-006a.jpg> 65: One California Plaza Plan, 1983, photograph, MPG Office Trust, <http://www.mpgoffice.com/Tracking/Admin/uploads/OCP_Ste200_22108rsf.pdf> 66: Lightweight Handheld Cellular Phone, 1987, photograph, Online Trash, <http://www.online-trash.com/?page=171&limit=10&sort=id> 67: “Prodigy Service Ad”, Popular Science, September (1991): 22. 68: The Sun’s “front page” about the “World Wide What?”, 1991, photograph, Online Trash, <http://www.currybet.net/cbet_blog/2012/09/hold-ye-front-page.php> 69: Google’s Venice Office, 1993, photograph, Los Angeles Commercial Real Estate Advantage, <http://losangelescommercialre.com/2014/12/04/google-buys-12-acres-in-playa-vista/> 70: Chiat Day Building Los Angeles Frank Gehry, 1993, photograph, The Casual Office, <http://www.carusostjohn.com/media/artscouncil/history/casual/index_02.html>