International workshop: "Perspectives on Uses and Users in the History of Office Buildings"

In 1984, the German literature scholar Hannes Schwenger wrote that “it cannot take long before the first museum on offices opens its doors – probably before the turn of the millennium”. Schwenger drew a parallel with 19th-century factory complexes, which were (by the mid-1980s) gradually becoming museum-worthy due to the ongoing deindustrialization in Western countries. “Over the course of the 20th century,” Schwenger continued, “large offices have appeared alongside factories as the ‘other side’ of the modern world of work – and in them, too, one can discover a piece of cultural history worth documenting”. Even though the prediction concerning the heritage dimension of the modern office has not proven accurate, Schwenger’s observations remain relevant for their emphasis on the…