You know in my country, the word for office translates as ‘place of dull progress’. Yeah, there’s not a huge office culture there, even though we still HAVE them. They’re pretty much a necessity if you want things to get done, and by ‘things’ I mean the efficient running of the country and businesses in general.
Still, I think my country does them a lot better, especially with the office revolution of the 1960s. Offices were a relatively new concept at the time, at least in the Western sense, so people got all up in arms about having to wear ties and sit in cubicles. Too much of a change, I guess. So there was a dramatic fusion of both Western and Eastern cultures, and now the whole thing work much better. Casual offices, plenty of incense, no dress code…if I were an office design professional in Melbourne, I’d take notes. Nah, not really…although I have seen quite a few sweeping changes in Melbourne as of late when it comes to office culture. The whole thing is becoming a lot more chilled, nowadays it’s pretty common to see office fitouts, Sydney office buildings seem to have them every day. The best fitouts transform the space into…well. not your average office. I also like that some offices accept dogs there now. Of course, in my country, it’s been that way from the start. You’d never dare to tell anyone they couldn’t bring their dog, or cat, or monkey, or parrot, or mantis shrimp to work with them; it’d be as bad as bad-mouthing the light goddess herself. I like to think things are getting better in Melbourne and Australia, at the very least. I bet there are even office design people in Melbourne who design dog-friendly spaces, or at least they can optimize the space for animals. Whatever you need, really. Just need to add some incense and everyone lounging around on rectangular bean-bags while typing on their laptops, and it’s basically just like home.
-Vera