Each era assigns different tasks to people, thus demanding corresponding shifts in workplace forms. In the past, office layouts evolved from the partitioned factory-style spaces of the early industrial age into the centralized office era, characterized by professional office buildings with unified security and property management. By the 1960s and 1970s, office buildings incorporated advanced technologies such as high-speed elevators, central air conditioning, and modern communication systems, emphasizing both aesthetics and efficiency—marking the dawn of the modern office era.
By the late 20th century, the era of intelligent office design had clearly emerged. Almost overnight, computer networks spread worldwide, and integrated cabling and fiber-optic communications quickly became standard in office buildings, ushering in a new age of workplace design. Consequently, office environments that foster greater naturalness, freedom, and autonomy—enhancing cognitive and creative efficiency—have become the defining form of the new economic era.
In the 1950s, a new type of office architecture emerged: high-rise buildings with glass curtain walls. One prominent example was the Union Carbide Building on Park Avenue in New York, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. This building, which harmoniously integrated interior and furniture design, successfully realized the visions of Marcel Breuer, Le Corbusier, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Its window frames, glossy plastic ceilings, metal partitions, filing cabinets, and desks were all unified within a 30-inch modular system, achieving modularity, serialization, and adaptability. In 1958, American sociologist C. Wright Mills described the modern American office as “a great, spread-out space with rows of identical desks.”
The 1960s saw Europe replace the United States as the pioneer in office design. Gleaming skyscrapers became commonplace, and a radical German management consultancy began promoting a new office concept known as Bürolandschaft (office landscape). Led by the Schnelle brothers, this approach argued that office layouts should not be based on hierarchy or organizational charts but should instead foster new communication patterns among employees. Traditional desk arrangements were replaced with flexible groupings, divided by screens and enlivened with plants.
The 1970s energy crisis prompted a shift in office design, and Europe largely moved away from the Bürolandschaft model. While cost was a major factor, regional differences also played a role. In continental Europe, where the landscape office had become widespread, employees complained about uncomfortable temperatures, low humidity, unbearable noise, poor natural light, obstructed views, and lack of natural ventilation. In the UK, the combi-office merged open-plan layouts with enclosed spaces, replacing the idealistic concept of the landscape office with a focus on efficiency and flexibility. A key innovation in open-plan design during this period was the introduction of system furniture.
By the mid-1980s, personal computers had become ubiquitous in offices. Yet the influence of computers on office design remained limited to specific layers. In Northern Europe, greater emphasis was placed on creating comfortable natural environments—such as ample daylight, ventilation, and outdoor views—rather than prioritizing electronic technology. The focus shifted toward nurturing a “social heart” in the workplace—a human-centered approach.
The 1990s introduced the concept of the virtual office. With the rise of mobile phones, the internet, and email, office workers essentially became “footloose”—free to choose where and when they worked. Information technology reshaped notions of work and organization, giving rise to terms like business process reengineering and working smarter that redefined the very idea of the office. A typical example of flextime or alternate office arrangements was IBM’s provision of only 180 workstations for its 800 mobile employees.