re: office parks
I have no clear idea of what office work actually is. What do office workers do? It would be interesting to investigate that – which in a way would be necessary in order to implement required functions in the park (the park would need to provide weights to avoid papers flying with the wind all the time).

Ok, so office suburbia…I begin to see your point why you’d like it to be office suburbia.
I assume that there are many companies with wireless connections with a range beyond the building. E.g. I know of a Helsinki new media company where an employee can read his email sitting in a car outside the office. I suppose your approach is more about making a park, which is a comfortable and usable working environment, which would be a viable alternative to going into the office. But also more than a café a la Carusel in Helsinki.
The dream is ’outdoor office work’?

So the main development area is the park, the kiosk, possibilities to sit (moulded earth?) etc. To create a operational office infrastructure outdoors with the benefits of services for breaks.

In your second (the latest one) post the idea isn't quite that ambitious. It's more about green areas around office complexes.
Even office fortresses in Finland tend to be catered by public transport. My experience of office complexes outside the city is that they leave green spaces between the buildings. So the idea is more about making those active and giving a larger variety of possibilities. Maybe this requires that we investigate Helsinki and Espoo office suburbia a bit. Even the Ruoholahti are is potential for this (the area where Nokia built a huge office complex, which was supposed to become the new HQ, but since cell phone sales have not grown as expected they had to sell those buildings now that they're complete).

Aulaisms
really hot in there during the summer That's why I thought that your idea resembled the idea in a good way. Except it began to lose the resemblance when the concept zoomed to office suburbia. Now I see it more as an independent project: kind of a concept that can be sold to office complexes.

The thought of a more central, more open ’working park’ still intrigues me. A public office space outdoors. But not as restricted as it would be situated in office suburbia. Unless these two target groups could somehow meet. Offices could make their outdoor working spaces available for other workers too and spot potential additional workforce :D
posted by [jm.] at 11:24

re: office parks
Glitch #1 'most people go to their offices ... for internet access and to meet with colleagues' Hmm, you're probably thinking of some certain line of industry here?
The industry I'm thinking about is office work, and there's a lot of it going on. This kind of experiment wouldn't be an easy one, and it carries a lot of responsibility. The location doesn't have to be downtown, it could also be in the urban areas. I'm more interested in working in the "ugly-abandoned" areas of a city (office suburbia). They're being taken over by corporate office buildings with little access to any signs of life. They're built for the car and masses of employees. Eating "good" food nearby for lunch is usually impossible and there's very little access to public transportation. Why not have a few parks around to provide a break area and also promote what the companies are about - creating work/business.

Note #2 The idea behind Helsinki's Aula is like a winter version of the 'office park' concept. Townsend's quote also reminded me of Aula.
Yes it is, but its indoors. I heard that it was really hot in there during the summer. Part of the design of the park could include small heated kiosks for winter use that would let a lot of fresh air come in. There'd also be new opportunities for local employment, produce markets, independent vendors etc...

posted by [j] at 05:32

office park
It sounds worth an experiment.
Glitch #1 'most people go to their offices ... for internet access and to meet with colleagues'
Hmm, you're probably thinking of some certain line of industry here? For most people work continues to be at work. Also for some the meeting colleagues is essential to the work (hmm, you did mention that colleagues would be encouraged to come the park too). In general this kind of 'work where it's comfortable' would probably work best for people really not defined by working space and have a laptop because of their work. Somebody like me - except my laptop needs to be plugged in for electricity at all times :( So yeah, it would need to be people who actually have a steady job and thus the technology.
Note #2 The idea behind Helsinki's Aula is like a winter version of the 'office park' concept. Townsend's quote also reminded me of Aula.
Note #3 It would be a good, no, the best, reason to carry an umbrella.
Note #4 These 'abandoned' pieces of land - wouldn't they have to be central?

I bump into problems when I think of the concept too far, but as an open experiment it sounds intriguing.
posted by [jm.] at 19:21

city _project
Something that's been on my mind. The only reason
that most people got to their offices is for internet
access and to meet with collegues. Why does
it have to be confined to one building and why indoors?

I've heard of all these "abandoned" pieces of land around
Helsinki and Toronto. Some of them are just warehouses
waiting to be torn down. What if the land was used to
make office parks? Companies could buy the land and transform
them into outdoof office buildings.There'd be a central wireless
access/kiosk for people to get internet access, and
be able to use the washroom and eat something. Collegues
would be encouraged to meet there operating in more
of a club office like role.
(a club office is where an employee works a few days at
the office, then a few at home or client locations)

"The tragedy of the information city is that most of what goes on, goes on inside anonymous office towers in the middle of nowhere," Townsend said. "These technologies can support group-based work in pleasant environments that people actually want to be in. So you replace the cubicle with the park bench-and I think that's a definite need."
(Anthony Townsend, a research scientist at New York University's Taub Urban Research Center)

The only thing I'm worried about is having fenced off
"business parks" for employees only which limits
accessibility of greenspace to others. I don't know
though, I'd still like to make on just as an experiment.

I heard cafe Carousel in Helsinki already has wireless availability as long as you have a laptop card. Manhattan's Tompkins Square Park also has a broadband wireless connectivity available for free. The Manhattan-based volunteer group NYCwireless has set up a node in Tompkins Square, using a modified D-Link Access Point to beam a high-speed connection throughout the park. The group has set up more than a dozen other nodes throughout New York City as well, allowing anyone with an 802.11 card to get online for free in locations ranging from Mimi's Pizza to New World Coffee.
posted by [j] at 11:03