The cult of office design
Home or office?
In this week’s guest post, we are welcoming back Emma Apple Chozick, the founder of gr8 collab, a creative and strategic partner to design-led brands. Find Emma on TikTok, Instagram, and Substack, where she highlights brands, spaces, and the creatives behind them. Emma is a frequent contributor to Architectural Digest and Surface Magazine and was formerly the Head of Community and Curation at Thingtesting. Thank you for joining us here, Emma!
In 2018, I interned for Fuckjerry (yes, like the meme account). This was the summer their Soho loft was featured in Architectural Digest, and the team was working on the Fyre Festival documentary for Netflix.
Propelled into the world of remote work post-college, followed by starting my own consultancy, it was the only office I’ve ever worked from. Still, since then, I’ve become even more fascinated by how creative working environments can elicit more creative work.
But it’s not just me. While companies across the board are winding down on the work-from-home flexibility and reverting to in-office mandates, the offices' employees are going back to are starting to look a whole lot different. Even if you can’t work from your home, you might find yourself in a space that feels like it could be someone’s home.
Taking a page out of Scandinavian office culture, US companies are ditching stuffy cubicles, fishbowl-like conference rooms, and fluorescent overhead lighting for custom communal tables, lounges, and moody lamps with the input of interior designers. In November, Saie Beauty’s founder, Laney Crowell, told Architectural Digest she wanted their NY HQ to, “feel like an extension of home.” Meanwhile, Montreal-based branding agency, WEDGE, put their office inside a literal home inspired by the Danish way of life. I did the comms and press for the Copenhagen-inspired office which was covered in Dezeen and Dwell.
I’ve covered several unconventional working environments and the people who make up these spaces and the design:
For Mouthwash Studio’s LA office, the agency tapped Aunt Studio, whose founders are also the Neutra VDL Residence and Studio directors. Talk about serious design enthusiasts coming together. (video)
As mentioned, a communal office culture is part of the Scandinavian culture. At GANNI’s Copenhagen HQ, in-house chefs Mia and Eva prepare meals for the team to enjoy together. (video)
Last year, Melanie Masarin toured me (and subsequently my audience!) around the (now former) Beachwood Canyon ‘Ghia House’. (video)
22RE designed an Oscar Neimeyer-inspired ‘huddle room’ inside the Ceremony of Roses office, complete with stainless steel walls and a green mohair sunken sofa. (video)
Cosmos, a moodboarding platform, spent its first couple of years working inside a furniture gallery. (video)
And now there’s only one question left to ask… could office lounges soon become the design inspiration for our living rooms?
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