Future Office Design of Beijing, China: Envisioning Cultural Sustainability Through Architecture

Office is a blooming building type in rapidly developing China. Most of the current Chinese office layouts and work patterns are following the mode from western countries and cities are now becoming the same as any big city in the world. Beijing is the capital city of China keeping unique Chinese culture for thousands of years. It is time for thinking more about preserving regional characters rather than pursuing for the international style. Design can get inspirations from traditional buildings – the right scale, the courtyard space combination, the typical materials application and so on. Thus, for the future office design of Beijing, preserving its own characters and creating an environment fitting for its own culture and people is the keystone. Based on those research and analysis about Chinese office development history, culture background, current office layouts and so on, I provide a prototype – a novel office layout that can respond to emerging work pattern requirements and Chinese culture-work relationship. Then apply the prototype into a specific site to complete a test based on the real scenario.