Inside the connected future of architecture | Hacker News Reader

Inside the connected future of architecture

bloomberg.com

36 pointsvirtualwhys10 comments

"The super-efficient LED panels, made by Philips specifically for the Edge, require such a trickle of electricity they can be powered using the same cables that carry data for the Internet."

Power-over-ethernet, for anyone trying to figure out what kind of cables they were talking about.

Panopticon again? No matter how many features this building has it's still a panopticon

Everything is wonderful, right up to the moment the "system" determines you have no value. You can run, but you cannot hide. In a perfect world, I love the idea.

Right. This thing is a control freak's dream. Notice that "about 2,500 Deloitte workers share 1,000 desks." Are there disfavored employees wandering around in a futile search for a free desk? If you leave your desk, is that sensed and it immediately becomes available for someone else?

Coming soon, the Smart Sweatshop™.

(That's been done. It's called "Hyperactive Bob", and it's an automated boss for fast food restaurants.[1])

[1] http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/991215-74/company-hyperac...

Deloitte is a consulting/accounting firm. On any particular day a large number (probably 60%: 1500/2500) of those 2500 workers are probably at a client location.

The main thing I noticed was that it was impossible to scroll through the page due to the fancy images or whatever else was going on in JS.

The thing I don't understand is this: What is the added value these workers create? They have no daily routines, they have no strong attachment to their team nor do they have a say in the furbishments of their work area. In my role as a highly trained knowledge worker in a system that is rather more organically grown than planned, I need intuition on the status of a large number of different parties in the ecosystem where I work in, and every fixed constant and known know and unknown is a valuable fulcrum I can use as a leverage to do my work as well as I can.

What human constants do the people have that work there? Are they treated as pure drones? Or is there a some sort of 'digital nomad' vibe going on there?

I have worked hot desk environment before. You basically act like a remote worker 2/3 the time, but it's easy to show up for meetings. If you note the 2,500 workers to 1,000 desks that tends to work in large part because you only show up if you have a meeting and only needed a desk between meetings. After that you can just go home and avoid the traffic.

It's arguably just an extension of liberal telecommuting policies if your only there 1-2 days a week your not going to leave important stuff at your desk.

"We think we can be the Uber of buildings".

Righttttt ... makes total sense.

"The Uber of desks in an office building" might be a more apt description, but it doesn't have quite the already-very-cliché ring to it.

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