PRESENTATION

FUNCTIONAL

TECHNICAL

SELECTED BY: Maria Eugenia Latournerie

TEAM: Julia Barashkova
Nationality: Russian, Israeli
Institution: Tel Aviv University

Missed your train? No worries, your office is here

The project is based on the theory of the French anthropologist Marc Augé of “Non – Places”. According to Augé, non – places are created by the rupture of historic, social or local connections. This is especially true for places that have a time-based function rather than a space-based function, namely, waiting instead of walking. The project proposes the dissolution of working and productivity functions in the urban space around train, bus and subway stations, thus redefines them by their new use. The planning method used for this project is extroverted and allows the bubbles to spread in the urban space. The smaller bubbles seen here are used as street furniture for collaborative work, and inspirational brainstorming. While the larger bubbles are enclosed rooms for more concentrated, focused independent work. The bubbles connect to each other in different ways to create a large variety of usable spots. The bubbles provide electricity, light and Wi-Fi connection and operate on solar panels, thus contributing to the city instead of consuming resources.

PRESENTATION

FUNCTIONAL

TECHNICAL

SELECTED BY: Ana Fonseca and Brimet Silva

TEAM: Anne Ma
Nationality: Canadian

Work, Wherever, Whenever

Introducing Office Anywhere, the all-in-one utility hardware for businesses ranging from fledgling start-up to scaling companies. In a world where physical space comes at a premium, time is scarce, and collaboration is key, OA offers the ultimate productivity alternative – the virtual office.

The lightweight headgear utilizes the latest Mixed Reality technology to augment the safety of your daily activities with the perfect virtual work environment. Complete with tracking sensors, GPS location, smartphone sync, proprietary virtual office software and more, OA offers the best user-friendly interface for productivity and efficiency.

Forgot to walk your dog? Not a problem. Need to rest your back on a flat surface? Switch up your physical location without losing your momentum in the office. Looking to redecorate your office space for a change of environment? OA offers a range of customizable interior finishes and furniture selections to suit every aesthetic sense without the hassle of a full renovation.

Finally, OA opens your office up to function as a truly international workplace; allowing employees from all over the country, continent or galaxy connect in and join your cause. So what are you waiting for? Work away.

PRESENTATION

FUNCTIONAL

TECHNICAL

SELECTED BY: Mirek Claßen

TEAM:
Karen Tsang, HK Chinese, University of Hong Kong
Ivan Chan, HK Chinese, Aarhus School of Architecture
Rachel Li, HK Chinese, University of Edinburgh
Desmond Chang, HK Chinese, University of Edinburgh

When robots take over human

As a result of the rapid technological advancement, the project envisioned the future office typology as a workplace that entirely run by cyborgs. In this scenario, many jobs in the secondary sector of the economy could render obsolete as the automation technology will be able match the labours’ skillset. Hence, this entry seeks to question the consequence of new technologies in particular to existing working class labour and re-imagine what ‘working’ could mean to the human population under such circumstances. We propose a dystopian working environment which will not only serve as a workplace / office but also a placebo for the human society in a wider context – to ease the distressed feeling of robots-rule-over but at the same time provide jobs, income and incentives for the affected labours and their families. Humans are strained by the cyborgs with repetitive physical exercises in order to extract ‘sweat juices’, the ultimate fuel used to power robots. Labours are demanded to work endlessly for those who enslave them, the metaphor of slavery is further deepened when these extracted ‘sweat juices’ can be added to the robot’s alcoholic recipes…