Offices throughout history

This series of brief analyzes on the evolution of office design over the last decades has the objective, in addition to providing entertainment by taking a trip to the past, to make a comparison of how the changes that have been made are for the improvement of productivity and well-being of employees.

Throughout the history of office decoration and furnishing, we have observed quite radical changes, such as going from spaces full of tables and chairs stuck one next to the other, to isolation cubicles. Each trend was influenced by the change in the modality in the offices, since they started working with analog and heavy devices, to mobile and technological equipment like the ones we have today.

Although this will be the end of the series, the truth is that in 20 years, a lot of things have changed in office decoration trends, but this is something that is talked about daily on social media, and that is why today we travel to our closest past: the 2000s.

The Internet was the key element at the beginning of a new millennium and the 21^st century gave birth to the type of company where the keywords were “dot-com”. Like in the rest of the world, companies back then wanted to attract young talent, because the new, the informal, and the unconventional were the highlights of the moment.

The companies focused on technology and bringing young talent so changes in decoration took place: puff chairs, pool tables in the rest areas, furniture, and walls in primary colors, something not so acceptable at the time because these elements were related to the childish and was seen as unserious. However, the change of mentality of the new generations would be the one who had the last word.

The new generations of talent needed less sterile, more customizable spaces. The spaces could no longer be an imitation of each other, it was time to break the monotony and give the offices personality. From this moment on, companies, especially the large and most recognized ones, would give their spaces an absolute facelift, with the office being mixed with home elements, such as the living room and dining room, providing a work area where you feel comfortable, giving it an air of freedom and fun.

The most significant change in the decoration of workspaces was the change in philosophy that occurred with the updating of the new generation of workers. The workspace is not a place to spend a few hours in front of the devices just producing, the workspace is a place to create and produce without limits of languages, beliefs, people, and time and independent of the physical space where it is done, just like human beings themselves, constantly adapting and reinventing themselves.