CIB W70-congres Edinburgh - Unlocking creativity with the physical workplace
June 2008 | Yuri Martens
Keynote for the CIB W70 conference in Edinburgh. Today’s businesses have to become more creative and innovative to deal with growing competition and globalization. The physical workplace can be of value for facilitating creativity. This paper reports on research conducted on the aspects that determine creativity and a case study which investigated the relations between creativity, creative work and creative work environment with a creative organisation. The paper proposes a model to position relations, elements and forces that determine the match of a creative workplace and its occupiers. Theframework positions creativity, creative work and an appropriate work environment. It helps to unravel the complexity of facilitating creativity and creative work processes. The case study emphasizes the importance of clear definitions, and illustrates the meaning of lay-out, colour, light and space for presenting ones work. The framework is a hypothesis. The application of the model still relies heavily on the insight and current knowledge of facility managers about their organisation and context. The paper offers guidelines and ideas for facilities managers to understand how creativity can be unlocked with the physical workplace.