The office is dead, long live the office: The coronavirus pandemic and the future of office spaces

Abstract

Over the course of the coronavirus crisis, substantially increased attention has been paid to the space of the commercial office. Much of this renewed attention has focused on potential futures of offices, suggesting that as the pandemic subsides, home-working will remain and companies will rapidly shed physical assets in city centres. This article explores how the demise of the physical space of the office as a discrete category may have been overstated, and how the foundational role office spaces play vis-à-vis white-collar work may continue into the post-Covid world. Starting with a brief history of the designed space of this office, this article explores three concepts neglected by many in their attempts to forecast office futures: 1) the historic resiliency of office spaces in the face of technological and social change, 2) the immense diversity of commercial office spaces and office workers, and 3) the role of physical office space in the capitalist labour process.

Keywords

• covid-19, architecture, office spaces, home-working