Sunday, November 28, 2010

Utopian Design: Interior Design in the Workplace

Interior design has a very specific goal: to make an interior space more pleasant, comfortable, and appealing to whomever occupies the space. A successful interior design depends on how the room is meant to function, who occupies the room and what their personal tastes are, and how the room makes a person feel when he or she spends time in it. Though many interior designs are average, like a bedroom painted a relaxing color with inviting pillows and blankets on the beds, some interiors stand out for their unique appearances and purposes. Some of these spaces even contribute to society as a whole, despite only directly influencing a small population of people. Take, for example, the amazing offices of Threadless:


Yes, that is where people go to "work" every day.  Not too shabby.  The interior decoration of the Threadless offices reflect perfectly what the company stands for: spreading artistic and creative designs to society through everyday objects, like t-shirts.  Their offices are conducive to this mind-set: free-form and limitless, allowing creativity to flow freely.
How might these interior designs be considered utopian?  Because their purpose is simple: to make the employees happy, comfortable, and productive.  Though the offices only affect a few people directly (the workers), the interior design motivates the employees to contribute positively to society (by exposing people to art), therefore making society better.
Sure, this is a very specific example of a utopian design, but the idea is universal: motivating people to do fun and creative things helps build a happier society.

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