Lived rhythms as a ground for togetherness and learning in hybrid workspace

Abstract

Using Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s theory of the flesh as rhythm, this article examines how lived dynamics between embodiment and space construct distinct modes of togetherness and learning in working life. Workspaces are becoming increasingly hybrid collections of various physical and virtual spaces. Contemporary workspace ideals embrace openness and a collective ‘buzz’, but this can also be disorientating. This article examines how different spaces could be combined to create spatial rhythms that balance collective working and learning with more silent types of understanding and reflexivity. The article suggests that we need both intimate and open spaces, as well as transitional spaces in between, to nurture learning and togetherness. First, spatial withdrawal can help people to connect with their earlier work history and dreams, sustaining openness of perception. Second, rhythmic movements between different spaces create a transitional experience of different worlds overlapping and a fertile condition for immediate communities. The article suggests that both approaches to space can assist in opening personal registers that are often suppressed: imagination and lived past. This article illuminates how reflexively created hybrid spaces can support personal grounding, spur learning opportunities and actualise novel modes of being together.