HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE OFFICE
While discussing the historical development of the office, let’s first consider the concept of ‘office’. Office; It is the place where managers, civil servants and secretaries work. Conceptually, it is the place where information is disseminated and used, covering all activities related to the management of a business. Offices are the areas where many works and transactions are carried out in workplaces or factories established to produce goods or services.
Office activities have been around since the beginning of history. The first office jobs were simple dealings with taxes, birth and death dates, and land. Office work in the modern sense started with the ‘industrial revolution’. Office activities in the past were far from their current meaning. It is possible to base the history of offices on the economic activities of human beings. With the obligation to register economic activities, offices have begun to be established. Although the contemporary office is considered the result of the developments in the second half of the 19th century, the first office buildings were encountered in the 16th century.
As the bourgeois segment dealing with commerce got richer in the Middle Ages, offices came to the fore again. This segment used the lower floor of their house facing the street as an office and the upper floor as a residence. Office buildings emerged in the 19th century with communication revolutions that radically changed business methods. In the industrial revolution, the office became an area where many specialized jobs were gathered, and the need for qualified personnel increased in this period. A process similar to the mass changes and transformations brought by the industrial revolution and the industrial society to humanity is also happening today. The last quarter of the 20th century was the period when this change began.
The need for information for all businesses, whether they produce goods or services, is increasing. A new era of increasing information production, storage, control, communication and sharing; started the information age. In this period when information gained great importance, the increase in the importance of the office was inevitable. Rapid developments in office technology have taken place in the last 15-20 years. The emergence of the office as we know it today is after 1900.
According to design expert Francis Duffy, the historical development of spaces;
1- The period of home spaces (1849-1864)
2- Skyscraper Paper Mills (1894-1904)
3- Joint Control Period (1954-1963)
4- Industrial Democracy Period (1973-after)
The last two changes in the office concept as we approach the end of the 20th century;
1 – While economy was a prerequisite in design, symbolizing power and organization came to the fore.
2- The effect of the latest developments in communication technology on offices. While the wind of globalization started to blow in our country, many domestic companies were bought by foreign investors. While the volume and number of companies grew, the country’s economy grew at the same rate. Growing companies became crowded in terms of number of personnel. This situation brought with it new office buildings. In the rapidly increasing office and plaza structures, they have primarily attracted attention
