1995: Berlin’s first hackerspace opens. These community-run venues, forerunners of the current coworking space, drew coders, scientists, and software engineers and served as a hub for exchanging fresh ideas, comparing code, and holding social events and lectures. Apple released the first iBook in 1999. The device, one of a growing number of increasingly powerful laptops of the era, allows workers to be productive on the road. The classic and vibrant clamshell design was ubiquitous in coffee shops, study halls, and any other location where freelancers congregated to work.

2002—Vienna establishes an “entrepreneurs centre.” Schraubenfabrik was a shared, open-plan workplace located inside a run-down factory that nurtured a developing community of startups, freelancers, and architects long before the word “coworking” became popular. Schraubenfabrik continues to exist today, proudly proclaiming itself to be the “mother of coworking.”

2004: In Emeryville, California, a “work club” opens. When architect and designer Neil Goldberg couldn’t sell his warehouse in the Bay Area, he converted it into the Gate 3 WorkClub, a shared workspace for dotcom telecommuters in and around San Francisco.

2005: San Francisco’s first official coworking facility opens. Brad Neuberg, a software engineer, envisioned a new sort of shared workplace that would bring together individual professionals in a more social and productive environment than a home office. He founded the San Francisco Coworking Space at Spiral Muse, a Mission District feminist collective.

2008—The global financial crisis and subsequent recession fundamentally altered the nature of labour. With firms shrinking and job losses increasing, record numbers of people have opted for self-employment, changing the employment environment. Several unofficial coworking activities take place during South by Southwest. These spur-of-the-moment gatherings laid the groundwork for what would become the Global Coworking Unconference Conference. By year’s end, there were an estimated 160 coworking spaces worldwide.

2010—WeWork establishes its first location in New York. The 3,000-square-foot coworking space on the corner of Lafayette Street was known for its industrial look, wooden floors, and exposed brickwork—iconic design elements that can still be found in many WeWork sites worldwide today. The coworking movement has created a solid foundation, with new locations emerging nearly daily to accommodate the growing need for flexible office space.