Award Date

5-1-2022

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Design

Department

Architecture

First Committee Member

Dak Kopec

Second Committee Member

Glenn Nowak

Third Committee Member

Janet White

Fourth Committee Member

Barbara Luke

Number of Pages

336

Abstract

This study is to identify the needs and wants of remote workers to support their health and well-being in response to evolutionary social changes. Many workers were once tethered to live in the city where their job office resided. Additionally, economic forces have long been a deciding factor in where one lives. The COVID-19 virus of 2020 provided an opportunity for many people to work remotely to control the virus (Latham, Higgins, & Judish, 2020). This has allowed people to retain higher salaries while living in rural areas where the cost of living may be lower. In 2021, some businesses resumed pre-COVID-19 practices, while others adopted new employment models (Molla, 2021). Ray Oldenburg divided place into three categories, referred to as “first,” “second,” and “third.” The first place is one's home, the second place is one's work environment, and the third place is public spaces such as cafés, spiritual centers, bookstores, etcetera. These places help identify how people divide their time within the built environment. When the second place (office) and third place (recreation/play) were shut down, people were forced to make their space fit the needs of the living, work, and play environment. Ultimately, this caused many to feel depressed because their living environment could not support the second and third place they were accustomed to pre-pandemic. A remote office may promote issues surrounding loneliness, social isolation, and frustration because of limited interaction with colleagues (Moss, 2020). However, I propose a model that increases person-to-person interaction through a diverse third place and conceptualization of the home to support the remote workplace where employees can quickly address issues of loneliness, isolation, and frustration. A benefit of remote workplace settings includes greater flexibility to enable workers to live and work from anywhere they want. The inclusion of thoughtful third places and the developing new home standards can support remote work and encourage community participation and flexibility. This may help address the potential for social isolation and loneliness and promote the remote workplace environment.

Keywords

Architecture; Covid-19; Design Research; Human Experience; Pandemic; Remote work

Disciplines

Architecture | Art and Design | Urban, Community and Regional Planning

File Format

pdf

File Size

6100 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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