# The ideal work environment {{< admonition type=info open=true >}} This post was originally written in Italian and translated using AI. If you notice any translation errors or unclear passages, please let me know. [🇮🇹 Read the original post in Italian](/lambiente-di-lavoro-una-visione-ideale/) {{< /admonition >}} In the [previous article](/blog/posts/concentrazione-e-produttivit%C3%A0-di-un-knowledge-worker/) I wrote about how concentration and focus are valuable elements for the work of **knowledge workers**. Distractions, however, constantly try to capture our attention and steal time from our essential tasks. Many of these interruptions arise precisely within the **workplace** itself. In this article, I present an alternative design of the work environment aimed at achieving **maximum dedication**. ## The **Eudaimonia machine** The term *Eudaimonia* comes from the Greek εὐδαιμονία, a word composed of εὖ “good” and δαίμων “spirit, fate.” Its meaning, taken from the philosophical context, becomes: **happiness understood as the fundamental purpose of life**. It is precisely from this term, and from the profound meaning it holds, that **David Dewane**, professor and visionary architect, developed the **Eudaimonia machine**. The purpose of the project is to create a work environment in which people can enter a state of deep human development, maximizing their personal abilities. ## The structure ![eudaimonia machine](/images/focus02.jpg) The structure of this environment is made up of five rooms, designed with very specific rules: * The only entrance is located in room #1 * Each room allows access only to the next and the previous one * The only exit coincides with the entrance For this reason, the **Eudaimonia Machine** is often designed as a rectangular structure with rooms in a line, one after the other. To reach a specific room, users must necessarily pass through the intermediate ones first. In this environment, imagined by architect Dewane, each room has a precise placement and role. ## Room #1: the Gallery Imagine being on the **street**, in front of the headquarters of a company that has chosen to organize its spaces according to David Dewane’s **Eudaimonia Machine**. We cross the threshold of the main entrance and find ourselves inside a room that contains, as if in a museum, an **exhibition** of all the **company’s products**. The feeling is that of being in a **welcoming environment**, even for those who are not necessarily employees. If we were clients or simple visitors, we would immediately have a first impression of what the company produces and of what best represents it. The main purpose of this room is to serve as a space from which to draw **inspiration** and, at the same time, it is a snapshot of the company’s *hic et nunc* development. After carefully exploring the gallery and, perhaps, after a pleasant **conversation** with the other users of this room, we move on to the next one through the only other passage. ## Room #2: the Salon As soon as we enter this room, we notice that it is designed to **engage** the user for a longer period of time. The salon contains a bar where one can sip a **good coffee**, a kitchen where meals can be prepared, and areas to spend time in **long conversations** with other users. This is the environment dedicated to letting **ideas** flow freely, without predefined structures, which will later be developed inside the machine. Those who have worked with companies on the Iberian Peninsula know very well that the most productive meetings often happen in a bar with cold beer on the table. We leave the sofa in the salon and move on to the next room. ## Room #3: the Library We are now at the center of the machine, and as we continue, the environments become increasingly oriented toward providing a workplace that encourages **concentration**. In this room, we find a large library with tables and chairs for **study** and consultation, much like in a traditional library. This environment is designed to foster **research** and contains all the **documentation** of the products developed within the machine, along with all the **resources** used in previous projects. Users can consult books and digital material, print, and scan. Architect Dewane defines this environment as “the hard drive of the machine.” In this room, the goal is to give a solid foundation to the **ideas** generated by the machine; thus begins the focus process on the next **project**. In religious silence, we proceed to the next room. ## Room #4: the Office We have just entered the environment where users of the machine spend most of their time. The room is a large **open space** with shared desks and a large **meeting room** equipped with a whiteboard and projection screen. This environment is where all the **low-intensity** work is done—routine tasks or, in general, work that does not require particular concentration. The open space guarantees basic **contact** with other users, which on the one hand stimulates willpower in performing daily work, but on the other hand inevitably represents a source of **distraction**. We therefore leave the office to move on to the last room in the structure. ## Room #5: the Chamber This room represents the peak of the structure, the highest expression of an environment designed to foster **concentration**. In this space, there are true **single rooms**, furnished in a **minimalist** way to minimize sources of distraction. Each room has a one-person desk, and the walls separating the rooms are thick and soundproofed. Inside the chambers, totally **isolated** from distractions and contact with other users, it is possible to focus on work that requires total **dedication** and an uninterrupted flow of development. Dewane imagines the use of the chamber in **90-minute intervals**, alternated with 90-minute breaks, to be repeated two or three times throughout the day. ## An ideal vision Dewane’s vision is **ideal**, probably at times utopian, and for now remains a visionary architectural project in search of the **best work environment**. In reality, however, distractions continue to surround us both in **noisy open spaces** and in our **small offices**, while we answer emails and phone calls. The fundamental question at this point is: do we really need an **Eudaimonia Machine** in order to work in a concentrated and distraction-free way? We know that focus is precious, but simply repeating to ourselves that we **need** more concentration is not enough. That’s why the example of the **Eudaimonia Machine** is useful: it helps us understand the complexity of the subject. The pursuit of distraction-free work is a **process that is anything but simple**, full of obstacles created by human nature itself. ## Bibliography [1] Newport, C. (2016). *Deep Work*. Piatkus.