Mediated Work Place and Work Styles As Second Offline: The Case Study of Coworking Space in Shibuya, Japan

This research explores the second offline world in terms of various workplaces and work styles such as coworking spaces, and nomad work based on ethnographic fieldwork in Shibuya Area.

Shibuya in Japan, known as a youthful town, has gained attention in recent years as a city that is exploring and implementing new workplaces and styles. The development of mobile and social media has no doubt promoted the trend of working from any location.

Rather, this trend represents a new world: ‘second offline’. In this realm, the development and spread of mobile and social media have led to offline spaces, with locations being superimposed by online information.

Business has underscored the principles of connection, collaboration, and innovation in recent years. Furthermore, efforts have been made to design workplaces that foster these values. This has been made possible by an offline world that holds new beliefs due to the overlap between online and offline, which has occurred in response to mobile and social media; that is to say, second offline.

If we describe workplaces using Tuan’s terms, then we can consider PCs and the (early) Web to be ‘linking media’ that transcend physical zones and connect workplaces, as is the case with telework. In contrast, we can consider mobile and social media to be ‘superimposing media’, which indicates a restructuring and upgrade of workplaces from a new perspective, as with nomad work and coworking spaces.