In a world whereby humans are becoming increasingly interconnected, architecture needs to encourage the diverse possibilities of human relationships. Architecture has always revolved around human interactions, with each other and the space around us. Technology is fundamentally changing the way we communicate and one important thing we have to preserve are the chance-encounters that architecture and urbanism have for as long as we can remember helped create.
Many studies have shown the benefits of these unplanned encounters, how they help communities, groups, and companies innovate. Offices are no longer designed through rigid enclosed grid systems but as a blend of different types of spaces to harbor different types of interactions. Some architects have started shaping their interiors as exterior spaces to maximize the probability of these social encounters found in the urban realm. Today these chance-encounters are unfortunately becoming increasingly rarer. The digitalization of the workspace has proven to be successful and even though it shows many benefits it lacks the randomness most of us have taken for granted. «While working from home brings efficiency gains in the short run, the danger is that it will imperil innovation in the long run. Indeed efficiency is the enemy of innovation, which is fundamentally about exploration. Having everybody working by themselves makes it hard for people to interact and explore new possibilities. Companies must get employees to “collide”. Before the pandemic, this was achieved through open-plan architecture that encouraged “water cooler” moments. Companies will have to find another way to facilitate these kinds of random interactions.» (The Wired World In 2021)
In parliaments, great deals of information flow through informal spaces, some of the most important discussions occur at entrances, hallways, cafeterias, and even bathrooms. Politicians walk through a range of different types of spaces in which they can stumble upon colleagues and meet and greet people. Additionally, along the main path, one can find several openings that lead us to more intimate spaces. These spaces enable vast numbers of distinct types of encounters, to remove them completely would mean to hinder democracy.
To build a Parliament that is true to itself we must take into account the elements that form its identity. An architectural language must be created to generate a building capable of fostering similar characteristics and encounters. The Swiss virtual Parliament would so recreate its atmosphere through a catalog of elements extracted from its original counterpart.