How honest is the “sharing” of working space that claim it to be? The architecture provides a hint. They are not working spaces most of the time, they are offices, destined to host a certain type of labor.With the rise of such “shared”, “open”, “creative”, “community”, or whatever new appropriated term an office space claims to be, it will always be an office. My main argument around such spaces, is the usage of words like “work,” or “labor,” when in fact, the offer is not comprehensive of what those two words imply.

In such context, the academic project “Thresholds of Convergence” repurposes the former Lufthansa Cargo building at the Tegel ex-Airport. The structure allows for a new architectural representation, or appropriation. I am using the word “appropriation,” as the spaces offered in the theoretical project are meant to be appropriated by diverse types of work. The idea is that different crafts, offices and professions can come together, converging. The convergence is not only meant to be spatial, but also for their work-related activity, creating cross-pollinated crafts and practices, learning from one another.

The unexpectedness of who your neighbor is and what they do for a living will inform they way you do yours. Imagine a car-workshop next to a film studio.