ABSTRACT

The idea of a work space, as it is understood, is applicable to all situations in which individuals are assigned a specific place, to perform a given job, involving certain prescribed tasks. The first point that stands out when look at the workplace from the outside is that it is both an instrumental space with a function of its own, and a symbolic space to which connotative values are attached. Like institutional spaces, work spaces are structured around a strong opposition between inside and outside. The classic picture of industrial work originated in places called shops, which in a certain way were the founding fathers of industrial work. The organization of this type of work space was deeply marked by Taylorism: space was cut up into pieces after the fashion of the tasks to be executed by workers, segmented into micro-functional units or “workstations.” The notion of office space was introduced and developed during the industrial epoch.