The project and the future socio-economic context
Changes in the way professionals work have always been one of the most important indicators of social change. It is probable that the most recent advances in information, production and distribution technology, combined with new flexible forms of business organization, will render the management of our time easier.
The modern world of work is destined to modify the behavior of much of the population, perhaps producing a general increase in specialized work with flexible working hours. This would give us more time for ourselves and our families, and enable greater contributions to be made to social, cultural and community activities. Forecasts of socio-economic changes – integrated with the intuition required of those who design for the future – are an important source of information that has a strong influence on architectural projects. In some new buildings today, it is possible to see the start of a functional development that produces radical changes in relationships between residential, work and recreational spaces. This approach to architectural design could spread as buildings become less functionally restricted, more attention is paid to their physical context and technologies are adopted which reduce energy consumption and pollution. From a conceptual standpoint, we could expect commercial, residential, service and production areas to become multifunctional, and therefore points of attraction, while non-polluting factories will be designed on a human scale and set in garden areas.
