IE University to launch new Master in Workspace Design

Last Friday, Spain’s IE School of Architecture and Design organized a workshop focused on What’s Next in Workspaces? Designing with Change. Held at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London, the event  moderated by Martha Thorne, Associte Dean for External Relations at IE School of Architecture & Design and Executive Director of the Pritzker Prize, brought together leading experts from both sides of the Atlantic.

Distinguished panelist from both academia and practice, such as Verda Alexander , Studio O+A; Jeremy Myerson, Helen Hamlyn Center at Royal College of Art; Simon Jordan, Jump Studios; Philip Tidd, Gensler and John Worthington, DEGW and Academy of Urbanism; Shared their vision on changing forces and trends in work space design, and how it is creating new and exciting working environments.

The event was organized as part of the launch of IE’s Master in Work Space Design, which will receive its first intake next February. The program combines modules in Madrid and London with online periods, and is run in collaboration with strategic partner the Helen Hamlyn Centre at the Royal College of Art.

Javier Quintana, Dean at IE School of Architecture & Design in his introduction highlighted the fact that “ The workplace is changing, the way we work is changing and the people who work are changing, in this new paradigm the office expand its means and we have to train professionals able to explore that reality”

Experts agreed that the work place has made a shift in the last years, due to flexibility, mobility and generation gap within the work forces. The role of office designers will become in the future more about facilitation and that simplicity will prevail in office space of the future.

Technology will also be a principal agent of change in the future of workspaces, Verda Alexander, Principal at Studio O+A in San Francisco, in charge of the Design of offices such as Facebook, AOL, or Microsoft remarked that “Workplace of the future will rely on easy communication through technology and on creating atmosphere proper to think, co create or even relax”. Even though Phillip Tidd, Head of Consulting EMEA at Gensler said “Even though technology supports remote working, the office will be in place for a long time to come!”

“Psychological comfort in workplaces will be the most significant factor in the coming years” mentioned Jeremy Myerson, Director of the Helen Hamlyn Center for Design at the Royal College of Arts. And  “Core human needs don't change. It's how they are expresses” concluded Simon Jordan, Founder and Managing Director of Jump Studios.