The Workspace of Tomorrow

Florian Idenburg, co-founder and partner of Brooklyn architecture firm SO-IL and author of the forthcoming book Human(s) Work, believes the office of the future will involve increased flexibility, autonomy, and imagination. On the episode, he considers the pandemic as a moment to rethink our relationship with the workplace and our jobs, the need for project-focused workrooms, and how workspace design might be best approached by focusing on experience instead of function.

Bärí A. Williams, author of Diversity in the Workplace: Eye-Opening Interviews to Jumpstart Conversations about Identity, Privilege, and Bias, discusses why an expanded sense of diversity and inclusion is essential to the success of both employees and employers.On the episode, she shares her nuanced approach to finding social and cultural balance in the workplace; why businesses should encourage vulnerability in conversations among colleagues; the rise of values-based businesses; and her cautious optimism around the future of technology, representation, and workplace health.

Amy Edmondson, the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School and author of the book The Fearless Organization, discusses the steps leaders should be thinking about as companies look to bring their employees back to the office.On the episode, she touches on workspace safety, her concept of “psychological safety,” and transformative takeaways from her early years working for the forward-thinking 20th-century designer and engineer R. Buckminster Fuller, best known as the inventor of the geodesic dome.

San Francisco–based designer and entrepreneur Yves Béhar discusses the profound life-and-work shifts happening before us. On the podcast, he offers insights on how the COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping companies’ and employees’ views on work and home, why honesty and integrity are becoming more important, how virtual tools are transforming collaboration and creativity, and how surfing can serve as a metaphor for leadership.

Mauro Porcini defines design thinking on his own terms, focusing on three central pillars: empathy, strategy, and prototyping. On the podcast, he discusses his approach to creating the PepsiCo Design and Innovation Center in New York City, a “startup within a corporation” that helps the food and beverage behemoth spark change and incubate breakthroughs. The Italian-born design mind also shares his limitless, five-step process to shifting company culture.

Ethan Bernstein, associate professor in the organizational behavior unit at the Harvard Business School, talks to us about how he and his peers are assessing the open office phenomenon. Through his research, Bernstein addresses a number of myths around employee interactions and architectural space, including the limits of self-management and organizational adaptability and the pros and cons of collaborative digital tools and privacy. Referencing the dream of an open, egalitarian workspace going back to the 1940s, he discusses the elements involved in establishing a true rhythm of collaboration and predicts three key themes for the future.

Jennifer Magnolfi, the founder of Programmable Habitats, a research and development consultancy that specializes in developing high-tech work environments, talks to us about integrating technology systems and data into architecture, as well as the importance of solitude and reflection within an urban context. Having collaborated on corporate redesigns and strategic initiatives for companies including Alphabet, Microsoft, and Zappos, Magnolfi shares her expertise on future planning, particularly around the research of “lead users” and how the new tech workforce is reshaping the workspace.

Architect and designer David Rockwell, the founder of Rockwell Group, discusses his firm’s wide-ranging body of work—Broadway theaters and sets, restaurants, Imagination Playground, hotels, the JetBlue terminal at J.F.K. Airport—and how these projects have informed his workspace designs, including NeueHouse and the headquarters for Warner Music Group and WME. Envisioning the work environment as a place that facilitates process, Rockwell shares his philosophies around adaptability and flexibility. He also brings up an often-ignored—but still essential and potentially transformational—element of architecture: the ceiling.