←  Wherever Whenever 2026

You are seeing a review of the WW-Festival 2024.

×

The Future Workplace: From Functionality to Identity-Driven Design

‘The way we work and the spaces we use haven’t changed much over time.  All this is a bit like riding a bike in the Tour de France, you did it with a bike in 1900 and you do it with a bike today, just better ones.’

Remi Versteeg is convinced that the basic concept of workplaces has changed little over the years. Of course, we have learned from the different approaches. – We have the Action Office to thank for sit-stand desks, telephone booths and lounge chairs. The office landscape brought informal meeting rooms, multifunctional seating and breakout areas – rooms that have no specific purpose but can be used in a variety of ways. The home office arrived with hybrid meeting rooms and virtual offices. – At its core, however, the office is still an office and will remain so for the foreseeable future.

However, now more than ever, companies face the challenge of making their identity visible in order to retain employees and attract new talent. Versteeg urged the audience not to respond by setting up company playgrounds and gyms. He firmly believes that these do not do justice to the function of the office and are almost always interchangeable. Nor does the use of corporate colours in interior design really help to create an identity. The co-founder of Beyond Space gave practical examples of how this can be made visible in other ways. Frequently used elements: art and materials with a reference to the company.


Photo: © Reinier van der Aart

Impact

T. Bisping, L. Kennedy, E. Eberhard, M. Jung

Employee retention: Between commitment and payment

Horváth & Partners @ Wherever Whenever – Work Culture Festival
Impact Okt. 22 14:00
Tobias Revell

Redefining Work: Five Stories from a Distant Future

WW - Work Culture Festival. Redefining Work: Five Scenarios for a Distant Future. Photo: IBA
Impact Okt. 22 10:00
Sascha Lobo

Digitalization in the World of Work: Germany Needs an AI Boost

WW - Work Culture Festival: Sascha Lobo, ©IBA | Leading Minds
Impact Okt. 22 11:30
Stephan Grünewald, Micheal Trautmann

The Psychology of a Society Troubled by Uncertainty: The New Logic of Work

Impact Okt. 22 14:45
Maarten Jamin

The Future of Work is Shared: What’s Next for Co-working

Keynote Maarten Jamin, bs;bp, beim ersten WW - Work Culture Festival
Impact Okt. 22 11:30
Bernd Fels

From New Work to New Region: New Ways to Organize Office Work

Bernd Fels @ WW - Work Culture Festival, © Bernd Fels
Impact Okt. 22 14:00
Birgit Gebhardt, Clemens Wasner

Knowledge on Demand: How Will AI Change How (and Where) We Work?

WW - Work Culture Festival. Knowledge on demand. Birgit Gebhardt and Clemens Wasner, Photo with illustrations by Signorinah
Impact Okt. 22 15:30
Christian Beinke, Erkan Karakoç

Rethinking Workspaces: Strategic Advantages Thanks to Clever Interior Design

WW - Work Culture Festival: Speech Dark Horse, Photo: Dark Horse
Impact Okt. 22 10:45
Bernd Hufnagl

Purposeful Thinking: How We Can Live Better and Work in a Digital World

Dr Bernd Hufnagl in the IBA Forum interview at the Work Culture Festival 2024, ©IBA
Impact Okt. 22 10:45
H. Grempe, P. Bachmann, H. Steinbacher, Tobias Wilker

Developing the 2034 Office Concept: The Impact of AI and Technology

Developing the 2034 Office Concept @ WW - Work Culture Festival, © Laura Thiesbrummel, combine Consulting
Impact Okt. 22 11:30
Oliver Mack, Michael Zgoll

Future Workspace Technologies: What’s Next?

WW - Work Culture Festival: Future Workspace Technologies with Oliver Mack and Michael Zgoll
Impact Okt. 22 14:00
K-U Schlegel, E Samaras, J A Brennig

Paths to Sustainability vs Greenwashing: Dos and Don’ts [Panel]

Wherever Whenever - Festival: TÜV Rheinland - Sustainability vs Greenwashing
Impact Okt. 23 15:30
Martin Führ

Sustainability: Eco-design regulations and chemicals in products and process

Wherever Whenever - Festival: Prof Dr Martin Fuehr, image on basis of -strizh-/iStock
Impact Okt. 23 14:45
I. Burroni, M. Führ, J. Knudsen, A.Tisch, V. Wessels

EU-Project R evolve: The Furniture Industry Goes Circular [Panel]

WW - Work Culture Festival: R-evolve, Credit: IBA
Impact Okt. 23 11:30
Birgit Gebhardt, Axel Buether

Spatial Awareness: Where the Physical Office Still Needs to Catch up in its Offerings

Wherever Whenever - Work Culture Festival: Talk with Birgit Gebhardt and Prof Dr Axel Buether
Impact Okt. 23 14:45
Andreas Loroch, Thorsten Heilig, Wolfram Sauer

Decision AI: How AI Is Changing the World of Work

Wherever Whenever - Work Culture Festival, Decision AI mit Wolfram Sauer, Andreas Loroch und Thorsten Heilig, Photo: IBA
Impact Okt. 23 10:45
Axel Buether

Colour and Lighting Design: Impact on Wellbeing, Health and Work Motivation

Wherever Whenever - Work Culture Festival 2024: Prof. Dr. Axel Buether
Impact Okt. 23 15:30
Teddy Tewelde, Fetsum Sebhat, Thorsten Giersch

Future Skills: What Changes are Needed in Both Education and Work to Help Shape the Future World

Wherever Whenever - Festival: Teddy Tewelde, Fetsum Sebhat - Future Skills
Impact Okt. 23 15:30
Heiner Hans

Good Lighting in Modern Office Concepts: Individual — Flexible — Sustainable

Wherever Whenever - Work Culture Festival: Heiner Hans
Impact Okt. 23 14:00
D. Winzer, S. Ayoub, D. Reicherts, M. Jung

Moving the Firm: Between New Ways of Working and Efficient Relocation Management

Horváth & Partners @ Wherever Whenever – Work Culture Festival, Photo: © IBA
Impact Okt. 24 11:30
Valeria Segovia

Future Office: Inside-Out

Impact Okt. 24 10:45
Uli Blum

The Power of Data: How AI Transforms Workplace Design

Wherever Whenever - Work Culture Festival, Uli Blum
Impact Okt. 24 14:45
Katrin Mercsanits, Michael Wiebelt

Corporate Development and Corporate Space: The Courage to Shape the Future Positively

Wherever Whenever - Work Culture Festival: Unternehmensentwicklung und Unternehmensraum, Vortrag von M.O.O.CON, © IBA
Impact Okt. 24 14:45
Vaughn Tan

Embracing Uncertainty: Designing Teams and Businesses to do Innovation Work

WW - Work Culture Festival. Learning from Chefs. Photo: © IBA
Impact Okt. 24 10:00
Remi Versteeg

The Future Workplace: From Functionality to Identity-Driven Design

WW - Work Culture Festival. The Future Workplace with Remi Versteeg. Foto: © IBA
Impact Okt. 25 11:30
Nicola Bramkamp, Julia Wedlich, Berthold Pott

Whenever, Wherever — We’re Meant to be Together: Why Art and Work Belong Together

WW - Work Culture Festival - Berthold Pott, Julia Wedlich and Nicola Bramkamp, Photo: © IBA
Impact Okt. 25 10:45
Sascha Lindner

No Choice: Why All Companies Need to Embrace Change

Horváth & Partners @ Wherever Whenever – Work Culture Festival. Keynote by Sascha Lindner. Photo © IBA
Impact Okt. 25 10:00
Wolfram Sauer, Ursula Hertewich, Peter Tauber

The Value of Work: The Courage to Break New Ground

WW-WorkCultureFestival: Wolfram Sauer, Ursula Hertewich, Peter Tauber
Impact Okt. 25 11:30
Sven Brookhuis

The Future Workplace: From Linear Space to Circular Service

WW - Work Culture Festival. Future Workplace. Sven Brookhuis. Photo: © IBA
Impact Okt. 25 10:00
Save the date Work Culture Festival 2026