No Sense of Place Makes No Sense

 

Where's the sense of place in workplace?

 
Recently, I was fortunate enough to attend a function at the Rockefeller Chapel on the University of Chicago campus. I’m sure Bertram Goodhue, architect of the Rockefeller Chapel, didn’t feel the need to educate his clients. Those of us attending and participating in the function in this marvelous environment were visibly and notably moved, and we didn’t need to be educated in order to “get it.” Returning to my office later, I reflected on other places that possess what my late friend Mike Brill referred to as a transcendent “charge”—the ability of a particular place to communicate and move people as they use and experience it. This is also referred to as a sense of place. I also wondered why some places have it while others do not. There are several examples of built places that evoke a strong charge: The U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC; the Gardens of the Alhambra in Grenada, Spain; the cave paintings of Lascaux, France. More personally, each of us has experienced this transcendent charge related to specific places: a childhood bedroom; a grandmother’s kitchen; a favorite library; a tree house; or a summer cabin. Still, some worry modern culture (and specifically the USA) is losing its sense of place. Across the country, thriving, historic town centers are being replaced (and killed) by cookie cutter shopping malls, Wal-Marts, and strip developments. Too often, in too many communities, there is a numbing ubiquitous pattern of sameness or lack of sense of place—a feeling of no “there” there. Like most things that are hard to quantify, sense of place often only can be recognized when it is no longer there. Perhaps the most vivid recent example is the Post-Katrina Gulf Coast and particularly the City of New Orleans. For many, the recent celebration of Mardi Gras in the French Quarter was a positive sign of the rebirth of the city. Yet to those of us who truly known and love her, New Orleans is so much more than the French Quarter and Mardi Gras. The place that was New Orleans is a long way away from returning—if she ever will. Those unique characteristics and combinations of quirky elements that made New Orleans the Big Easy are still absent. What's missing? The sights, smells, tastes and sounds, and experiences that were unique to this place. More importantly, the people have been displaced - removed from their homes, schools, churches, parks, streets, jazz clubs, and other places in the city that formed the foundation—the heart and soul—of New Orleans’ sassy, fun, sensuous, dangerous, mysterious, and unique culture. Sadly, New Orleans, once one of the most distinctive places in North America, is now a tragic example of “placelessness.” What does this have to do with facilities and workplaces? Think for a moment. When you consider the workplaces you know, do you experience a sense of place? Is there something about them that elicits a strong, positive response from people who work in them? In most cases, the answer is no. To which I ask, “Why not?” Author, poet, and ecologist Wendell Barry has observed, “If you don’t know where you are, you don’t know who you are.” Nowhere is that truer than in workplaces. In fact, most workplaces are carefully crafted to exude a sense of placelessness. There’s no “there” there by design. These workplaces exhibit a numbing sameness, with floor plans resembling wallpaper rolled out in repeating patterns of four, six, or eight groups of workplace modules. Often, the only reason visitors can find important features (like bathrooms) is because they are in the same place on every floor. Without a doubt, uniformity and standards make the job of planning and managing space easier. Inventory control is more efficient. Time and expense for changes are lower. Considered in these terms, placelessness is not a bad thing. But it is a good thing? Does it provide the best alternative for the people who work there? I think not. Mobility and temporal fluidity characterize—and are celebrated as—aspects of modern workplaces. Work happens anywhere and all the time. What, then, is a workplace and what is its meaning? When it seems the only constant in the world of work is change, one might argue the need for a sense of place has never been more important. Most people spend the majority of their waking hours at work. Shouldn’t those environments exhibit some personality? Workplaces undoubtedly evoke emotional reactions from the people who use them. But far too often, those emotions are negative, characterized by pejoratives like “rat maze” and “Dilbertville.” Should we not strive to develop and deliver workplaces that evoke positive feelings among workers? I not only think we can; I think we must. Modern management and work processes focus on teams, team building, and communities of practice. Community is built on common ground: places, events, and experiences that are shared. Workplaces offer an untapped resource for building and strengthening the sense of community so important for effective work groups and teams. How can workplaces be instilled with a sense of place? What makes a place a place? To begin with, it must have an identity. Fortunately, facilities can be the single biggest physical manifestation of an organization’s image and identity—and it doesn’t have to be hard or expensive. I know of several workplaces that project both an organizational identity and the group identity of the people who work there. Often it is a simple thing like a bragging wall where group members display both individual accomplishments and team successes. Other times it’s a coordinated effort to integrate an organizational brand into the elements of the workplace. In yet other instances, workers are free to use color, signage, icons, and artwork to develop a spatial identity—a shared concept of who and what their workplaces are. Evidence shows those things that contribute to making the workplace more of “their” space are important and valuable. It is also true the impact of such places on the workers goes beyond positive reactions to positive performance. To whom does the responsibility belong for trying to instill a sense of place? I believe the primary duty lies with those professionals responsible for the physical workplace—facilities managers (FMs)—working in concert with the workers who occupy and use the space. In other words, if not you, then who? It may seem an odd notion to add such a “soft and fuzzy” issue to all the other concerns of FMs as they plan, deliver, and manage places where people work. But what more important duty do FMs have than to ensure the most positive impact of facilities on the people who use them? That’s the way I see it from where I sit. Of course, I could be wrong.

Monday, April 2, 2007

 
 
Made on a Mac

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