Creating inspiration: the power of a work space.
Work space matters. Chaotic, cluttered, or drab spaces suppress ideas. Artists know this: inspired spaces inspire great work.
Writers and painters would gather in beautiful cafes in exotic cities to drink strong coffee, share constructive critiques, and ingest inspiration. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos and T.S. Eliot were part of a group deemed The Lost Generation by Gertrude Stein, and were well known for seeking glamorous watering holes and exotic writing locales. This group included American writers born between 1893 and 1900 who were disillusioned by World War I. They were displeased with traditional social values, sexual and aesthetic conventions and establishments, and morality that they felt was growing more and more inconsistent with modern times. Together, they pioneered new ways of writing that broke the mold of the traditional Victorian styles.
Just as they sought innovation in their thoughts, they sought exotic landscapes to inspire their work. They first fled more rural areas for the cities of Chicago, and San Francisco, ultimately, making their way to London, Madrid, and above all - Paris. Paris was the prime location in which the Lost Generation chose to wander. Between 1921 and 1924, the number of Americans in Paris grew from 6,000 to 30,000.
Today, the value of environmental inspiration is no longer a secret held only by elite artists with the wealth to discover the power of physical space. Similarly to Paris in the early 1920’s, Silicon Valley found itself with an explosive population growth - to over 3.1 million people by the 2020’s, from a population of 2.5 million just a decade earlier in 2010. Silicon Valley would become a haven for geniuses, innovators, and tech artists, but also, of spectacular work spaces. The valley’s brightest and biggest companies display a deep understanding of the impact of a unique and inspiring work space, and have brought the wonder of the outside world in, in outposts throughout Northern California.
Dropbox has a lego and music room, Twitter’s space is infused with their signature sky blue, and includes what looks like mini-log cabin work spaces. Airbnb has a massive living green wall, a conference room inspired by the “War Room” in Dr. Strangelove, and 8 private meeting rooms that are exact replica’s of some of their coolest listings around the world. Uber has a “God View” wall - a montage of mounted screens which maps every car in every city that Uber serves, from Paris to Panama City. And the late Steve Jobs personally tapped architect Norman Foster to build Apple’s staggering 2.8 million square foot site, dubbed the “Spaceship Campus”. These days, work spaces are almost as innovative as the technological innovation they house.
Whatever your work space, wether its a tech giant compound, a Parisian cafe, or a designated corner that counts as your home office, finding a way to add a spark of inspiration - a beloved quote, a shock of color, a custom Zoom background, a sculpted bird found on Etsy, or even a favorite cup of artisan tea - is important, and can actually increase the quality and quantity of your output.
Uber’s “God View” wall.
Design by Silicon Valley’s renown design firm O+A.
