A Closer Look at History of Coworking Space

coworking space, office space

Introduction

Over the years, we have witnessed our parents and grandparents getting to the offices and toiling throughout the day and night, coming home, and again going back to work. This has been prevalent for quite some time and a majority of us have been practising this in our decade too. Anyone here consider whether working from the offices is efficient or not? Yes, it is productive as some of the work environment requires onsite employees and workers, but there are many such jobs and offices which do require its employees to come to the workplace but still they are coming. Need it done so? No. What is required is productivity. If there is work productivity regardless of the place it is being done, one can work at various places with various individuals from various organisations.

 

For several years we have been a member of the revolution, a revolution that is changing working patterns and improving efficiency and cooperation with numerous institutions. Yes, this is a Co-Working model which was initiated in the near past and where people of different organisations and freelancing persons are working a lot more efficiently than earlier. But where this revolution began, and what is its History, let us look at.

 

It all began in 1995 in Berlin, Germany – 17 Computer Engineers got together to work and called it ‘Hackerspace’. The management’s objective of establishing this place was simply to use it to share and discuss all the equipment and infrastructures available. However, it also improved cooperation with each other thus improving knowledge, at that time there was no advancement in such areas.



What is Coworking Space?

Co-working has its roots in the year 1999 when an American game designer by the name Bernard DeKoven hit on the term. Except for the name, nothing was like the present , because his perception and practice of the term were different. Coworking was defined by DeKoven to mean ‘working with equal to’, instead of ‘working together yet in different parallel tracks’ to clear out the hierarchy. In regards to game design, he wished for people to collaborate and get to the finish line without receiving grades. The following year that DeKoven awakened the concept of coworking, a new coworking space called 42west 24 emerged in New York City. In the year 2002 two Austrians started working on the idea of doing away with working from home and to provide a coordinated environment for individuals with similar visions, where such people could come together and work. The two transformed the former factory into the modern working environment for architects, consultants, freelancers and the owners of start ups. Yet the facility that is now famous as a coworking space was known for years as an ‘entrepreneur’s centre. ’

 

Again, as mentioned the origins of coworking are traced back to 2005, Brad Neuberg, a software engineer from San Francisco was the first person to officially start a Coworking space. To be precise, when Neuberg was struggling through some of his worst financial ordeals he was employed with a startup; however, he was not entirely happy with his assignment there. He was longing to work by himself but at the same time, desired to be part of a community and be able to work with other people as well. From this, he was able to work and come up with a new form of space that would afford the structural aspect as well as the basic feel of community. He opened the space in San Francisco itself, and has been our sole anchor to link the company with the market. Initially, people didn’t go there and no one would visit the space but within a couple of months people thronged the space.Some individuals developed concern over such spaces and that particular moment the figures of those engaging in and investing in those spaces grew. According to the findings, data reveals that from the year 2006 up to the present year, the number of coworking spaces roughly doubles every year and continues to grow progressively from that time. And in the years that followed several major organisations commenced using it and the rest as they say is history. Since then it has developed and the need for such areas is only growing, while all areas that exist at the moment have strategies for expansion.

 

Expansion in such environments has persisted so much that the global coworking spaces are additionally expected to hit a mammoth figure in the future years. Owing to the fact that the side hustle is set to come up in the next few years given the up and coming flexible working environment for many workers, coworking spaces are expected to grow more and more in years to come.