A critical systems perspective on the design of organizational space

This paper is the first to introduce critical systems thinking into a new emerging research strand: the design of organizational space. The study revealed two things. First, critical systems thinking provides a thorough framework to understand the possibilities to connect organization and building; both in a conceptual understanding of the mutual relations and with regard to the practical implications that such connections have. Second, an application of critical systems thinking in an immersive virtual environment resulted in an inspiring debate around all sorts of facts and values of the current and expected future states of organizational space. It raised the awareness about a true interdisciplinary design in organization and architecture and allowed significant improvements to be made. This paper may be also regarded as an introduction to an application of critical systems thinking in other design processes where human and technical systems designs are interwoven. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Keywords architecture; critical systems thinking; health care; organization; virtual reality
INTRODUCTION Organizations do not only use their building to sit dry and comfortable, but in many cases they actively seek to structure the work, improve the performance, and express their [...]