I went to a seminar/lecture this week on the "new office" and the idea of almost completely doing away with walls in an office setting. This means greater visibility and communication within offices fostering greater collaboration and a sense of teamwork. I remember reading a while back that they were doing this in the Hancock Building renovation in Boston, where even the private spaces that remained were entirely of glass. It was a promo lecture by "Environments at Work" and "Haworth" which I really liked because it went along with a lot of the ideas that have been swimming through my head this summer. They talked about creating offices that could be changed and adapted by the inhabitants and be converted over time for many different uses. The main reason I'd found out about the lecture was during my research for a project (we couldn't figure out how to get the plumbing and HVAC for a recreation center out of the building without running it down 2 flights first due to abnormally low ceiling heights and other existing conditions). I was looking into raised floors when their lecture and site popped up. I think it's a great effort they're making. It completely goes along with the ideas of sustainability, adaptability, and the "recycling" of spaces. Maybe the existing buildings can't be recycled per say- but there can be systems implemented to adapt these existing spaces into ones that can be reused for years to come. Maybe its just a matter of the structure, the initial wiring of the building, that makes the difference. If it is a simple space, it is open for all possibilities. With easy access to and for change- and few permanent fixtures, which is how we traditionally build (specifically for a purpose with little regard to the future needs), wouldn't a building be more successful?