Definition: More or Less

Spatial definition within the workplace has historically been relegated to either the perimeter or the workstation. This typological tendency flatlines program, idealizing labor within a generic container. As a result, new forms of untethered work have become reliant on superficial difference to generate collaboration and serendipity. The exhaustive flexibilities of the generic office dismiss an architectural thumbprint capable of calibrating a social context conducive to contemporary work. In response, this thesis prompts a new workplace of definition: more or less.

 

Sited in Houston, the project explores an organization of parts, each of partial definition, combining and disjoining readily. Three courtyards enable the nuanced assembly of contiguous space, driving a spectrum of spatial and interpersonal work relationships. Through orientation, an oscillating social figure allows leased and non-leased space to intermix. Rendering organizational structure less structural, the design strikes an advantageous balance between room and landscape, private and collective, focus and collaboration.