Urban architectural concept of the 21st century business clusters

The study is about the ongoing change between the contemporary business clusters and a working personality. The research delves into the problem of urban-social vitality of today‘s offices. The aim of the master thesis is to propose the vision of the 21st century business clusters which responds to the way of work and life of contemporary human.

Contemporary business clusters usually take place in the hearts of the cities creating strong global intangible images but locally working as monofunctional and socially hieararchical urban areas. An ordinary citizen entering these areas feels anonymic, segregated and lost. The most lively business complexes are before 8 AM, during the lunch and shortly after 5 PM. At other times the square and sidewalk is beautifully designed but without the people. The problem of non-vitality even sharpens after the COVID-19 pandemic affected society. The life functioned in contemporary business clusters have been relocated into the outskirts of the city. The question arises: do we need such a big infrastructure in the cities to run the business?\r\nIn such a complex of circumstances there was tried to revitalize the central business clusters of Vilnius. In Vilnius the business clusters are still developing so the concept was to create a system of them by individual complementary to each other programmes and leaving them physically separate. The deeper revitalization project is located in the heart of Vilnius, contemporary business complex of „Europa“. A lot of attention was given to the study of an user. There were found 7 types of personalities which 21st-century business complex should involve: darboholic maximalist, darboholic mom/dad, socially sensitive, melancholic perfectionist, local resident, tourist/visitor and student/trainee. The new programme is created in this complex as a melting body. Then there was created the box of principles helping to model the vital business cluster such as: hiding intensive traffic, reducing building intensity, create visually and physically open spaces inside the buildings (vertical gardens, spaces for expositions), employ the facades (climbing walls, water elements, beehives), insert living structures, create buildings modular and transformable. In such a way of revitalization the experience of an user totally changes, it becomes rich and full of joy. The business cluster evolve from monolythical architecturally pure bodies to very urban complexes.