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“In our daily work – as well as in our teaching and research – we are currently experiencing a huge developmental shift towards the digitalization of our working methods. Barriers that have blocked this progress for years are being blown away overnight,” says Professor Christoph M. Achammer, Chairman of the Executive Board of ATP and Professor for Integrated Construction Planning and Industrial Building in the Institute for Interdisciplinary Construction Process Management of Vienna University of Technology.

What will the world of work look like after the corona crisis?

Achammer: We have certainly all learned how to save some of the valuable time that we previously wasted on unnecessary journeys – without reducing the essential dialog between all stakeholders. Quite the contrary: I think that we will be forced to be more disciplined when preparing our communication in order to be able to achieve joint outcomes more efficiently.

In the past, the “home office” and “home working” were more likely to be theoretical models than widely established practice. The current turbocharged developments are now leading to a much wider level of acceptance. Can one already speak of a new understanding amongst employers and their employees?

Achammer: There is certainly a new understanding of the value of dispersed cooperation. I am less convinced that much of this will take place in the home office in future because the necessary physical structure often doesn’t exist. But I can very easily imagine other network structures that will reduce both the enormous concentration of work in one place and the resulting lengthy commutes.

Changes also always represent opportunities. For example, digitalization is also currently enjoying a huge and unprecedented surge. Do you think that this is a long-term development or will the return to normality be followed by a swift regression to familiar structures?

Achammer: As I mentioned at the beginning, many of these disruptive changes will be impossible to reverse. The more rigid the former structures were, the more these changes will remain. The best example of this will certainly be our educational institutions.

Even the most advanced video conference equipment is unable to replace any form of human contact. But by considerably reducing these contacts they will become much more important.

It is not only the reduction in commuting that is currently having a positive impact on our environment. Do you see this as offering a long-term opportunity for countering climate change?

Achammer: Of course the reduction in travel is expected to make a positive contribution in the area of climate change. But it is important to point out clearly here that the major potential for reducing CO2 emissions first has to be discovered through technological and, hence, engineer-driven innovation. I am convinced that all leaders in these areas must contribute responsibly to the development of new technologies and solutions in the field of sustainability.

A new sense of community and team spirit is currently emerging in the world of work. Will people also retain these in the future?

Achammer: Teamwork is neither taught nor experienced in today’s education system. But digital cooperation cannot function without the desire to cooperate or the opportunity to work as a team on a daily basis. This is doubly true of the integrated development of good buildings. This is why the current situation – at least in this sense – is doing us some good, despite all its many downsides.

Changes in the world of work will also lead to changes in the demands on buildings and urban planning. How will smart cities develop?

Achammer: This is another area where I see huge potential for positive change. The shift away from hypertrophic, unnecessary concentrations and the reduction of the distance between the home and the workplace will have a major impact on urban development. The logical integration of future mobility and the more economical use of land will be the central role of the next generation in this area.

The interview was carried out by Dipl.-Ing. Arch. Melanie Meinig, Managing Director of the AGI

The Arbeitsgemeinschaft Industriebau e.V. (AGI) is the association representing the construction and property departments of a range of German companies. Its members include product manufacturers, design offices, and universities that are active in the industrial and commercial building sector.