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OUFrom Third Spaces ➡️ The Office ➡️ ____ 👀🔮??
Tracing the evolution of human connection reveals a fascinating thread 🧵
Throughout history, what made us feel a sense of connection and created a connective tissue between neighbors were public gathering places (squares, parks etc.) and so-called “Third Spaces”, as sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined. These are places beyond the home and the office – the library, church, and coffee shops, and play a vital role in fostering a sense of community and social connectedness.
More recent history links the idea of third places to the development of modern coffee shops, which became especially popular in Europe as places for philosophers, intellectuals, and socialites to gather and exchange ideas in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Then, with the industrial age came the office. Quickly, work turned into a new religion, and the office became the place where we’d spend most of our time.
Fast forward to the present, technology has significantly changed how we interact and use third places. With the abrupt interruption of the traditional in-place 9-5 in 2020, Zoom became our new office. When working from the comfort of pajamas becomes indistinguishable from a pair of slacks, it becomes increasingly difficult to encourage people to leave the comfort of their homes and gather. The physical and social ergonomics of work look increasingly like sitting in solitude, connected by screens, tethered to keyboards — working together, alone.
Now, after more than two years of remote-working wars, it feels like half of the workforce is being forced back into offices, while the other half is working from home — both feel lonely and disconnected from people and environments around them (declared a “Loneliness Epidemic” by the WHO)
This year, our focus is on exploring the necessary social infrastructures and tools for this new way of living and working — out of office, and get you back out there!
Read more about our focus in our newsletter via the link in our bio & join us for collectively exploring the future beyond the 9-5 office space.
@outofoffice.network
