Grey Space by LNCGRN

GREY SPACE

Lance Green 1

Table of Contents 6

Preface

Introduction

11 13 18 22 22

Hyper-connectivity in the World Today The Basic Need for Privacy The Rise or Fall of the Mobile Worker Co-Working Spaces Open-Space Offices

Objectives

27 34

Brand Positioning Psychological Benefits

Research

44 47 50

Literature and Related Topics Interviews Our Relationship to Space

52 56

On-Location Research The Transition into Grey Space

Methodology

61 66 66 66 72 78 82 86 92 92 96 100

Initial Designs The Freelance Chair Design for Sensory Stimulation Design for Smell Design for Light The Branding of Marijuana Sensation Experience Grey Space: The Mobile Application The Future of the Creative Workplace The Virtual Office of 2030 Socializing in Virtual Reality Opportunity

104

Audience & Market

120

Looking Forward

121 122 127

Found Methods for Reducing Distractions Identifying Grey Spaces Take the Longer Route

“What is necessary, after all, is only this: solitude, vast inner solitude. To walk inside yourself and meet no one for hours—that is what you must be able to attain.” Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

Preface

Grey Space is a study rooted in human behavior, focusing on our ability in adapting to alternative workspaces and office environments. It is an exploration into the places that encourage us to be most at peace within ourselves and within the world around us, for these are the spaces we escape to in order to produce fruitful and thoughtfully executed work, and through which we are able to transcend our creative barriers. Spaces which allow us to rebalance and make sense of a mess, that inspire us and provoke new thought, and that act as a psychological mold presenting us with an aspiring vision of our best selves. This particular area of interest concentrates on the creative workspace as a means of implementing design solutions. Whether it is the structure and prescribed nature of the open-space office, the comfort and careful curation of our own home, or our ability to adapt to makeshift, public

workspaces, Grey Space has explored these interstitial territories in search of an understanding of where we work best, and why. Explored through a variety of design lenses and research methodologies, unique interviews and business opportunities, products and services, as well the entirety of its writingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;this research topic was completed within the areas referred to as Grey Spaces. Through methods of experiential research and observation, the exploration of these territories has led to a suite of design offerings that seek to explain, question, and put to test the prescribed nature of our working environments.

Introduction

Hyper-connectivity in the World Today Research in both online and offline environments has shown that the perception of being watched, let alone the actuality of being watched, can result in feelings of low self-esteem, anxiety and depression.1 Instances such as this occur more often than one might imagine and are often the subconscious decision-makers on how we act and interact in public situations. Being monitored, whether in a public or private setting, has proven to increase stress, psychological tension, anger, health complaints and fatigue in workers, as well as can dampen creativity and productivity in individu-

Murphy, Kate. “We Want Privacy, but Can’t Stop Sharing.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 4 Oct. 2014. Web. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/05/ sunday-review/we-want-privacy-but-cant-stop-sharing. html>.

als. 2 Such forms of monitoring may vary within the office and remotely—from the feeling of an individual looking over your shoulder, the tracking of hours, data and completion points on company computers and smartphones, to the recent use of public social media accounts against employees. Finding privacy in the midst of the Age of Information is a feat in and of itself, especially in times when the state of being disconnected digitally can be the new loneliness. With the popularity of social networking and being connected, we no longer find a need for privacy in personal space alone, but in public space as well. Humans are naturally social beings, and in a era when the act of being social can include a night spent alone on 2

Smith, M.J. “Employee Stress and Health Complaints in Jobs with and without Electronic Performance Monitoring.” Science Direct. Applied Ergonomics, 1 Feb. 1992. Web. <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/000368709290006H>.

social media catching up with close friends and unknown followers, it is nevertheless understandable for there to be confusion in the designation between public and private, social and reserved, on and off. These oppositions will never again be defined in black and white, but more so black, white and grey—the space between both private and public. Privacy—a condition in which the self feels free from observation of the public eye and without the disturbance of others. Attempts to achieve such a state have proven to be increasingly difficult, with the inclusion of mobile technology and the successes of making things smaller, smarter and more hyper-aware. In a time where we feel most observed by the people around us, we often look past the negative effects of an imbalance in both private and public life. We have succeeded in

digitizing our entire lives, everything from social experiences and communication skills, information and literature—it’s all connected and accessible from a mobile device. The Basic Need for Privacy It has been said that the times in which we are most productive often coincide with the times when we are free of observation, left with only ourselves and to work in an undisturbed environment. In a report at Berkeley School of Law, titled Monitoring Technology in the American Workplace, Laura Evans states that “The problem of employee privacy and productivity becomes more significant as the boundaries between formal and informal places of work blur.” The art of telecommuting, a term coined to define the act of working from home with use of the internet,

email and telephone, is on the rise. An average of three percent of all workers are now working from home, an eighty percent rise since 2005—that’s 3.3 million people (not including those considered self-employed.)3 Freelancers and independent workers make up a surprising thirty-four percent of workers within the United States—that’s an upwards of 53 million people. Often without a dedicated workspace, these workers often have few choices in terms of working locations outside of the home or office. In our homes, we are around our own, self-curated environments. We are free to grab a snack, use the restroom, or take a break as we find fit. The home, being a place we have reign over, can be as quiet as we please, free from outside distractions. The lack of commute, transitioning between meetings, lunch breaks and working environments provides for better concentration on the tasks at hand.

to feel less judged when working, and diminishes the fear of failure. This, in turn, allows us to work past our mistakes without fear of public humiliation. As stated by Sarah Lewis in her book The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery, “We make discoveries, breakthroughs, and inventions in part because we are free enough to take risks, and fail if necessary. Private spaces are often where we extract the gains from attempts and misses.” 4 When we are alone we are free to work as we please, letting our creativity run wild, unafraid of what others will think—this is often when we do our best work. Privacy and Connectivity

The creative workforce is known to require frequent critique from others, spending time in groups, and providing peer feedback; but achieving a level of personal success within this collaborative act is a process in and of itself. Spending time alone in creative environments allows one

Humans are naturally social beings. We thrive off of the partnerships and connectivity related to work, as well as those found in our everyday lives. Nicholas Bloom, a professor of economics at Stanford University, organized a survey of C-trip, China’s largest travel agency, in which 250 workers volunteered for remote working opportunities. Half of the volunteers were told to work from home, and the other half from the office. Following the survey, it was found that those who worked from home spent 9.5 percent longer on their tasks, and were 13 percent more productive

Privacy and Creativity

“The State of Telework in the U.S.” Global Workplace Analytics. Global Workplace Analytics, 1 Sept. 2013. Web. <http://www.globalworkplaceanalytics.com/telecommuting-statistics>.

Lewis, Sarah Elizabeth. The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery. Simon & Schuster, 3. Print.

than those in office environments. 5 This may be credited, in part, to the lack of company monitoring from the home, having access to a controlled environment free from distractions, or to the comfort of working within a familiar space. It was also found, however, that as many as half of the telecommuters were recognized as being unhappy—even lonely—when asked to work from home. As Robert Ardrey, anthropologist and behavioral scientist, puts it, “natural selection has encouraged social mechanisms which seem ultimately to exist for no reason other than to provide conditions for antagonism and conflict and excitement.” 6 With this, one must question the blur between social and private, work and home, connect and disconnect and the transitions between— understanding territories as these can provide for better health, a decrease in psychological tension, and fatigue in our daily lives, and has the opportunity to heighten creativity and productivity within the creative workplace.

Bloom, Nick. Does Working from Home Work? Evidence from a Chinese Experiment. Cambridge, Mass.: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2013. Print.

Ardrey, Robert. The Territorial Imperative: A Personal Inquiry into the Animal Origins of Property and Nations. New York: Atheneum, 1966. Print.

The Rise or Fall of the Mobile Worker Against the idea of the work-from-home office environment, Yahoo, as of 2013, no longer allows company employees to work from home. Reasons for this decision include a loss in company value, the lack of employee monitoring, or the absence of company communication between employees. Despite these observations, companies like Facebook and Google are allowing office flexibility more than ever. Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, released a statement defending her decision by saying that “people are more productive when they’re alone,” and then emphasized “but they’re more collaborative and innovative when they’re together. Some of the best ideas come from pulling two ideas together.” 7 The wildly successful iPhone app Yahoo Weather, originated from the collaboration between two employees who worked in the same building. To better promote the positive side of working in the office, Meyer introduced new travel options for employees, smartphones and free food, a model similar to that of Google—keeping employees in the workplace by creating micro-cities within the office.

Tkaczyk, Christopher. “Marissa Mayer Breaks Her Silence on Yahoo’s Telecommuting policy.” Marissa Mayer Breaks Her Silence on Yahoos Telecommuting Policy. Fortune, 19 Apr. 2013. Web. <http://fortune. com/2013/04/19/marissa-mayer-breaks-her-silence-on-yahoos-telecommuting-policy/>.

Co-Working Spaces Makeshift Society, a company offering shared workspaces in San Francisco and Brooklyn, is a wildly successful stab at the office of the future. The space provides all the amenities of the office, cleverly mixed with the conveniences of home. As stated on their website, Makeshift was created “to make it easier for freelancers and small teams to start and grow their businesses.” They continue by describing the space as a community where people “learn from each other, work hard and have fun.” In terms of privacy, the space offers reading nooks, private phone booths, and a conference room for members to discuss personal business matters. There is also a wide variety of seating arrangements, both cushioned and with tables, for whatever atmosphere members might find themselves working best in. When compared to the open-space office, a setup like this can only sound ideal.

“A Creative Community in San Francisco and Brooklyn.” Makeshift Society. Makeshift Society. Web. <http://makeshiftsociety.com/brooklyn>.

Open-Space Offices   In an era of rapid response mixed with the high demands of a hyper-connected society, the popularity of the open-space office has transformed once productive workspaces into incubators for unwanted distractions and low rates of productivity among employees. Such distractions may present themselves in the form of mobile notifications from nearby coworkers, the guy who is consistently leaning over and asking for creative feedback, or the back-and-forth sounds of the recent addition of a new office Ping-Pong table.   We may find that there is no simple solution to these problems, especially in office cultures that limit or disregard the benefits of working remotely. The truth is, we all work differently, just as everyone reacts in different ways to what is going on within the office. Some people may find the indie-pop playlist put on by the office disc jockey entirely distracting, while others may find its energy pleasing and enjoyable. In order to work through these distractions a person must remain proactive, as there are few universal solutions to dealing with the diverse range of interruptions found within the workplace.

Objectives

The goal of Grey Space is to understand and identify the spaces we find ourselves most perceptible to creative stimulation and productivity. Assets created under this brand offers users the necessary relief and transitions into these spaces amidst a rapid increase in the hyper-connectivity of the worker in the modern world. Offerings aim to inspire, motivate and encompass the qualities and embodiments of our needs, to create a more prolific yield of work. Through a variety of products and services, Grey Space explores the impacts of emotional sensibilities found in lighting, objects, scent, material, and sound within a space in hopes of creating a more generative and focused working environment. Through these goals, each step of the design and implementation leading up until the final deliv-

erable is in line, and on brand, with one another. Grey Space has set five main goals under one overarching theme: to make our daily work lives more enjoyable. These goals are in the form of spectrums which, when used together, make up the overall identity of this topicâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the method of setting Grey Space into these ranges has helped to physicalize the research and observations, creating a cohesive brand language. Brand Positioning The language of Grey Space holds true to a variety of spectrums which, when exercised according to the ranges specified, allows for each method of research, intervention, and physical or digital manifestation to fit into a well-structured argument. The ranges provide set guidelines and expectations needed to achieve the goals of each

Grey Space offering—from the decision to lean towards a trending topic or long-term discussion, an inessential or optional product, to an indispensable and much-needed companion—each pivot creates a decision to remain consistent throughout all design deliverables. Trending vs. Long-Term As the study of Grey Space is further realized, physicalized and implemented in the real world, it is important for each decision to focus on the long-term benefits and effects of these products. The expectation for a product to remain relevant over time, and to withstand the tests of a rapidly evolving technological world is, in itself, a challenging feat. One practice in meeting the criteria of achieving a long-term finalized product is to remain aware of the commonalities throughout past years of design trends, or identifying the consistent points in which designs have remained the same. Often what constitutes a design timeless is the inability to correctly guess the year of manufacture—a product that remains relevant through careful consideration of classic styles, colors and materials that are meant to, and proven, to stand the test of time. Inessential vs. Indispensable To be indispensable requires a focused understanding of the specific habits of each user per-

sona, identifying the consistent needs and points of intervention. Habitual interventions are the dependence on a product to fulfill a daily task. One might have an indispensable relationship with a lamp, for example, as it consistently provides use during nightly work, and is necessary in order to see the task at hand. An inessential design, on the other hand, is a product that exists to fill a space, with no influence on the human body or mind— although one could argue that an object can affect the subconscious to provoke certain emotions. A paperweight, for example, is a static and dispensable product used by an audience limited to people with windy offices. Meditative vs. Active For Grey Space to remain an even balance of both meditative and active qualities, it is essential to observe the interactions and understand the effects that each product has on its users. A product of Grey Space is made not to not add stress to our lives, but to ease these stresses. Users of Grey Space find it important to remain aware of possible distractions, and the ability to overcome bad energy or nearby distractions in order to achieve a state of active meditation. Active, in this sense, is not strictly limited to the interaction of product to physical body, but is fully embracing the mind-product interactions. Such influence that a product can have on the physical body is, in form, active participation of the human mind.

These “mental flow interventions,” as we will call them, are based on the theory of Flow by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, which fully describes the ability of humans to achieve a deep and completely focused motivation, a total immersion into the task at hand. Private vs. Public As exploration has focused primarily on the private interactions we experience in our work-related lives, ideas have evolved into physical manifestations of extensive research-based products. These products, as they seek to exist in the real world, argue for the interactions between private and public space, social and individual use. Grey Space questions the borders between these mental and physical spaces, offering unique design collaborations in the home and office. As workspaces further exist through undivided layouts and multi-surfaces, or the local coffee shops offer large tables and group seating, individuals find themselves interacting, in some form, indirectly with one another. Lighting options in these spaces are, oftentimes, unadjustable and only suit a small minority of spatial occupants. The ability to adjust the emotional sensibilities of lighting, objects present, scent, material, and sound in a space have a direct affect on the human spirit. Altering a space to suit the needs of the inhabitant(s) is essential in achieving a productive workspace.

Psychological vs. Physical As mentioned in the previous spectrum, there is a distinct relationship between the products we interact with and the psychological and physical influences they have on our mind and body. For an object to evoke a response of the mind, or to have the ability to arouse a physical response— better yet, for an object to influence a person in a way that has both a mentally stimulating and physically provocative reaction—is the balance of Grey Space. An object can serve a purpose through the functionalities of its physical use without the consideration of aesthetic or its object relations-based impacts on our psychological mindset. A person could choose to surround themselves with self-inspiring and aesthetically pleasing materials, colors, scents or styles in order to stimulate creativity and increase productivity. Peter Zumthor, as written so eloquently in his book Atmospheres, establishes architectural atmospheres as “this singular density and mood, this feeling of presence, well-being, harmony, beauty... under whose spell I experience what I otherwise would not experience in precisely this way.” 9 The things we choose to surround ourselves with have a much grander impact on the way we function than most would consider to unfold.

Zumthor, Peter. Atmospheres: Architectural Environments, Surrounding Objects. Basel: Birkhäuser, 2006. Print.

Psychological Benefits We gauge our ability to get tasks done by the amounts of energy, stamina, time, and stresses we are experiencing at that that moment in time. For a person to overcome these impediments it is important to be fully aware of the presence of, and sometimes the cause of, the distractions and interferences that are negatively affecting our capacity

maintain this level of consistent flow. Lastly, there must be an awareness of balance between the challenges faced and their ability to overcome these challenges—a person needs to have the confidence and energy to complete the task at hand. Transitions, Private to Public At this point in the creative process, one may

to do productive work. Said distractions are often our personal mood, level of comfort, amount of time available, resources available, outside matters, or disorganization—to name a few. Preparation beforehand, or the awareness of and ability to put these distractions in idle mode, can oftentimes prevent said distractions. Although, achieving such peace amidst personal chaos is never an easy task.

find that the adjustment to alternate workspaces involves a form of indirect interaction with others who are working in their own, separate spaces. For Grey Space to incorporate itself into these environments, the interventions must be flawlessly embedded into the workspace, free of distraction to others and unobtrusive in its physical existence and in user interaction. Collaboration

In order for Grey Space to achieve this state of mental flow, products must be thoroughly involved in user testing, helping to further validate the design through user feedback, and creating a clear set of goals along the way. This, in turn, adds direction and structure to the experience of the user in order to prevent these products from being their own form of distractions. Engagement with Grey Space products must be intuitive and easily understood in order to prevent further distractions, allowing for the user to adjust to the changing atmosphere (time of day, temperature, mood) as well as their performance in order to

As the workspace transitions from the gridded structures of the 9-to-5 workday into the open office and—as an effect of the recent increase in telecommuting—into the home, one might question the future of collaboration within these alternate workspaces. Through both digital and physical platforms, workers will soon find themselves having to adapt to workspaces outside of the office, in spaces rented out and “adaptable” enough to suit a group of “x” occupants. As these Grey Spaces allow for the occupants to project their work into alternate space, it is critical for the designed environment to be best suited for the

needs and requirements of the occupant(s). For a design to possess the ability to change its state within a space, directly altering the atmosphere and overall mood of the environment, users have the power to generate positive energy and spatial ambience. Grey Space products, through their multi-faceted design functionalities of both psychological and physical investigations, explore the relationships between multiple users and the objects and spaces they interact with daily. In order for a collaboration to achieve the state of flow one experiences as a singular being, Grey Space products will fit the specific needs required of creative group work. Moveable and interactive spatial arrangements should be carefully considered, as creativity is unleashed through the active involvement of mobile environments, pin walls, and erasable surfaces. Allowing users the option to work alone before bringing their work to the group is essential. Static objects and tables with chairs should be avoided, as standing and motion-based work stimulates the mind and body. 10 This interactive environment should incorporate surfaces that allow for the input and output of ideas and information, flow graphs, and moments to engage in discussion and free thought. Desk

Stromberg, Joseph. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Five Health Benefits of Standing Desks.â&#x20AC;? Smithsonian. Smithsonian.org, 26 Mar. 2014. Web. <http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/five-health-benefits-standing-desks-180950259/?noist>.

space, when required, should be parallel in order to promote organized working—this is achievable through three hundred and sixty degree access to table surfaces, and face-to-face interactions between workers. Placing these arrangements within the center of the room can create a public space for the collaborative and combined efforts of team members. Reserved space for collaboration in making is essential, as hands-on construction allows for personal thoughts to become physicalized and understood by all, provoking critical discussion through the visualization of ideas. Lastly, an awareness of the diversity of group members can be used as an opportunity, rather than a hindrance, when people provide unique ideas and perspectives related to the task at hand. Designing for these spaces requires special attention to the physical attributes of five spatial op-

portunities—through light, sound, scent, objects and material selection. We manipulate these territories in order to better suit our personal preferences and provide the necessary conveniences to get a task done. Under the alias Grey Space, it is important to explore these territories, creating products that tackle single or, when necessary, multiple qualities from each. Most products design for only one or two of the human senses in terms of space—consideration of all five is important in developing the specific mental states necessary to get work done. Results of designing for these territories involve a more energized, focused, and collaborative working experience. There are many factors that are taken into account when adjusting to a new workspace. Both internal and external influences are constantly competing for the occupant’s attention within a space, and

the awareness, adjustment or acceptance of said influences is the first step to a productive experience. Many of the architectural atmospheres that humans prefer to work in incorporate a finely tuned composition of lighting, object, material, sound and scent within the space. The ability to adjust these elements is important in creating a space that is both stimulating and free of unwanted distractions. The most common points of conflict within this span of research occur in the areas between private and public space, digital and analog technology, and the state of being online or offline. By identifying common behavioral patterns in multiple work settings it is possible to better understand the relationship between our physical environment and its effect on our work-related performance. Possible offerings include pre-curated working environments, desk layouts, a redesign of the office cubicle, and products designed to induce privacy in public settings. Grey Space is a study based on human behavior rather than prescribed environments, the user rather than the audience. Understanding these territories can provide for better health, decreased stress, psychological tension, anger, and fatigue in our daily lives, as well as heighten creativity, connectivity and productivity.

Research

Privacy was once considered a luxury, an outdated definition of having spare time to spend with oneself. The feeling of privacy is now a necessity for a healthy lifestyle. Just as sleep is needed to regain energy, privacy keeps us balanced and energized. Alan Westin, author of The Origins of Modern Claims to Privacy, recognizes the human instinct of personal space as it relates back to its animalistic origins. Westin identifies “the parallels between territory rules in animal life and trespass concepts in human society [as being] obvious: in each, the organism lays claim to private space to promote individual well-being and small-group intimacy.” 11 As stated by Alan Westin, “a final parallel between animal and human societies is the 11

Westin, Alan (1984). The origins of modern

claims to privacy. In Ferdinand David Schoeman (ed.), Philosophical Dimensions of Privacy: An Anthology. Cambridge University Press. 56--74.

need for social stimulation which exists in animals alongside their needs for privacy.” As much as we need privacy, we feel the need to fill boredom, or voids, with human-to-human engagement. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, written by Abraham Maslow in 1943, lists the need for privacy, security and social acceptance in the second (safety) and third (love and belonging) tiers, just above physiological needs: breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, etc. Such classification shows the importance of both private and social stimulation in humans. Maslow, in a later study, listed the characteristics of self-actualizers. These are the people who have the ability to live up to their true potentialities based on having their initial needs met. Maslow studied eighteen people he considered to be self-actualized, including Albert Einstein. Maslow’s approach was based on human potential and an

understanding of what humans need to achieve self-actualization. The need for privacy was listed alongside independence and high creativity. 12 Literature and Related Topics Research has included the reading of The Architecture of Happiness, written by Alain de Botton. The book bridges self and place, bringing to light the undeniable connection between our environment and it’s direct relationship to our own misery or happiness. Architecture of Happiness encompasses a beautifully in-depth timeline on the history and evolution of architectural styling, from early Classical and Gothic to the sterile modernity of the past century. Tracing this history and understanding the cultural cause and effects of mankind on the world around us allows for the identification of commonalities and parallels between human and building. The Architecture of Happiness was a journey through the philosophy and psychology of architecture, and has served as a preface and inspiration for the topic of human emotion as it relates to the spaces we encounter. Other readings have included The Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard, an in-depth exploration into the home and our attachment and fears of each area within these structures. The Poetics of 12

Desena, Joe. “The Pursuit of Happiness: Self-Actualization and Maslow’s Mistake.” Entrepreneur. Entrepreneur.com, 16 Mar. 2015. Web. <http://www.entrepreneur. com/article/243936>.

Space focuses on the places we find most intimate: a corner, a nook or window, or a well-curated environment in which we find peace within ourselves. From the attic to the cellar, every part of the home is dissected into bite size pieces of relatable storytelling. The topic of intimacy within space, on the places we recognize as familiar and comforting, has a great deal to do with the experiences we endure surrounding the safe havens we call our homes. In these spaces, people are free to curate and arrange their most prized possessions and sources of inspiration in whichever formation their heart desires, and will often find themselves resorting to these spaces in times of contemplation or trouble. Bachelard states “to sleep well we do not need to sleep in a large room, and to work well we do not have to work in a den. But to dream of a poem, then write it, we need both. It is the creative psyche that benefits from rhythmanalysis.” 13 Rhythmanalysis, in this case, refers to the method of analyzing the rhythms of spaces and the effects of those rhythms on the inhabitants of those spaces. These rhythms come in the forms of the human senses—sight, touch, sound, taste and smell.

Bachelard, Gaston, and M. Jolas. The Poetics of Space. 1994 ed. Beacon (MA), 1958. Print.

The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces by William Whyte has been an enormous influence in terms of observing and understanding interactions and experiences within a space. The study incorporated the mapping of public plazas in New York City as a means of understanding how people operate within a prescribed space. To be an observer within these territories is a unique opportunity that allows one to identify the things that most heavily influence the occupants of an area. For instance, spending an hour in the Fifth Avenue plaza of the Metropolitan Museum of Art will involve a high energy of sound from tourists and New Yorkers alike, as well as an understanding of the clusters and arrangement of people that form on the steps of the museum entrance. Research mapping has proven to be a highly effective tool for relaying experiential information, such as the ways in which people

navigate space. Expert mapper Dr. Peter Hall believes mapping can “tell you a lot about the human condition” and are able to “prescribe a nature for human behavior.” When mapping looks to distort information, such as making the Earth flat instead of spherical, or when the map of the London Underground skewed geographical information to better suit the reader, it can be described, as Hall puts it, “prescriptive versus descriptive.” 14 Using prescriptive design methodologies encourages the user to act, rather than providing passive functionalities. Interviews Architect and designer Riley Triggs, in his paper Film, Body and Architecture, studied the direct 14

TEDxAustin Peter Hall 2011. Perf. Peter Hall. Youtube.com, 2011. Film.

relationship between man and the buildings he interacts with daily. Triggs recognizes “cinema is a uniquely sympathetic medium for expressing the relationship between our bodies and architecture,” citing Sigmund Freud as a related study on human emotion and the way aesthetics, shape and form can play a role in our unconscious routine. The way we feel and the emotions that are provoked in certain environments can be based on the previous experiences we’ve been through— each uniquely linked to that person. In this state, “intellectual, psychological and emotional states become free to act independent of the physical body and can serve as a connection between human and building.” 15

Bryan Boyer, architect and co-founder of Makeshift Society, runs co-working spaces in both New York and California. During an in-person interview within the space, Boyer described the space from top to bottom, explaining his reasoning behind each architectural decision. The New York location, found in Brooklyn, is a successful example of the connection between home and office. Being on ground level and extending into a sub-level office space lined with egress windows, there is optimal natural lighting throughout the building. Boyer spoke of the inspiration and energy that is found from being on ground level, identifying his own observation of people watching the streets mid-thought. The energy found on street level is something that, thirty floors in the air, is often lost within the traditional urban office.

Triggs, Riley Grant. (2006) “Reel houses of horror: Film, body and architecture.” Masters Thesis, Rice University. http://hdl.handle.net/1911/17925.

In an interview with John Thackara, founder and Director of The Doors of Perception, an event production company based in Europe, it was found that choosing the right quality of atmosphere was of high importance to him while working. Speaking via Skype from his office in France, Thackara stated that he “can see a swallow’s nest,” and that he had recently “been contemplating—anything is okay as along as [he had]

infused the discussion with new ideas, observing the interactions of children in a playful environment and incorporating physical objects into the scenario. Children were identified as possessing superegos, as well as traits related to those seen in the Oedipus Complex. As found in this study, humans relate to others and experiences in their adult lives as shaped by familial experiences during infancy. A child is given a stuffed bear by

this view, a cup of coffee and a laptop.” This laptop, an Apple MacBook Air, is the first laptop he loved, for it’s “light and mobile.” Thackara spoke highly of this quality—mobility—describing his life as “phobic-mobile” with the ability to work most places.

his mother to fill the void marked by her absence—as an adult we may find comfort in fabrics or textures that are similar to that of the bear. This is Object Relations Theory, also known as the Kleinian Theory, in action. The Kleinian Theory sat untouched until psychiatrist Franco Fornari introduced them into Italian design, adding symbolism to the combined efforts of Freud and Klein. Alessi, The Italian Design Factory, utilized Fornari’s research, adopting Affective Codes, a system created by Fornari to explain the unconscious rules we apply to the things we interact with. Using five keywords, Alessi categorizes each design it produces as paternal, maternal, childish, erotic and birth / death. 16 Just as a cognitive as-

Our Relationship to Space A deeper look was taken into what has been termed The Oedipus Complex, a theory by Sigmund Freud in which he examined the feelings, ideas and emotions that the mind keeps in the unconscious through dynamic repression. Feelings can be provoked by aesthetics, memories by smell, passions by touch—we unconsciously apply rules to the things we interact with, just as we naturally prescribe right from wrong, good from bad. The research of Sigmund Freud, a highly controversial subject in his day, defined a new form of psychoanalytic theory. Building on this, Melanie Klein, a psychoanalyst and follower of Freud,

sessment of a home would produce results similar to the word building, the affective assessment might yield a shelter or prison, all based on the experience said person had involving their childhood life at home. Alessi, Alberto, ed. Alessi: The Design Factory. London: Academy Editions; Wiley, 1994. Print.

This is the foundation for the moments when a quick smell of a stranger’s perfume brings back the memory of an old friend, or when a sound similar to that of an alarm clock makes a person cringe. The mind keeps our most memorable feelings, ideas and emotions in the subconscious through dynamic repression. Feelings can be provoked in a second by specific qualities of the things we encounter—memories by smell or passions by touch. On-Location Research After speaking with Riley Triggs, an architect and designer based in Austin, Texas, an insight was uncovered: it’s not where we work, but how we adapt to these spaces. Triggs stated that “a big space with a lot of people is a great place to be alone; just look at Grand Central Station.

There is a constant energy around, and it’s not all being directed at you.” These interstitial spaces are the locations in which Grey Space would be identifying and observing. Churches “The facile din of the outer world had given way to awe and silence. Visitors instinctively whispered…everything serious in human nature seemed to be called to the surface: thoughts about limits and infinity, about powerlessness and sublimity.”17 Churches are, as Alain de Botton puts it, a place where “metaphysical stirrings [are] not only 17

Botton, Alain. “Ideals of Home.” The Architecture of Happiness. New York: Pantheon Books, 2006. 109. Print.

plausible but irresistible to even the soberest of hearts.” The architectural styling of religious buildings has, over time, remained very much the same. Vertically endowed structures, ornate decoration, stained glass, and the smell of incense—all of it comes together to form an atmosphere of transcendence, significance and majesty. Churches are a combination of both private and public space, an area we previously defined as Grey Space. Using the same materials as every other building, the difference is in the detail, and the composition of brick to wood, stone to holy water. Together, the well-considered composition of material creates a space that evokes uniquely similar feelings within each visitor, feelings of being in the presence of something greater than us. As said by Alain de Botton, “under the influence of the marble, the mosaics, the darkness and the incense, it seemed entirely

probably that Jesus was the son of God and had walked across the Sea of Galilee.” Libraries Similar to that of churches, research has led to libraries as a means of analogous experience—both a public and private space—we respect the solitude of moments spent reading in historic buildings. Whether it is the rows of stacks, the ornate wood detailing surrounding the cushioned window seats, or the dusty smell of an old book, visitors unconsciously whisper, afraid of disturbing other readers nearby. The Rose Reading Room at the New York Public Library is an ideal example of a public working space. As it reads on their website, “patrons can read or study at long oak tables lit by elegant bronze lamps, beneath fifty-two foot tall ceilings decorated by dramatic murals of vibrant

skies and billowing clouds.” 18 Emphasizing on both the architectural and detailed styling of the room in appeal to its visitors, Alfred Kazin, American writer and literary critic, often used the space to work, describing the experience of the space as inspiring, stating “there was something about the…light falling through the great tall windows, the sun burning smooth the tops of the golden tables as if they had been freshly painted—that made me restless with the need to grab up every book, press into every single mind right there on the open shelves.”

“Deborah, Jonathan F. P., Samuel Priest, and Adam R. Rose Main Reading Room.” Rose Main Reading Room. New York Public Library General Research Division. Web. <http://www.nypl.org/locations/schwarzman/ general-research-division/rose-main-reading-room>.

The Transition into Grey Space Through this research it has been possible to identify human behavioral patterns in multiple environments, and to develop a closer understanding of the relationship between physical space and human performance. Possible offerings might include experimental working environments, sensory intercepts, a redesign of the office cubicle, and products designed to induce privacy in public settings. Grey Space is a study based on human behavior rather than prescribed environments, the individual user rather than the mass audience. Understanding these territories can provide for decreased stress, psychological tension, and fatigue in our daily lives, as well as heighten creativity and productivity within the creative workplace.

Methodology

Grey Space has involved multiple research methodologies that relate to productivity and its connection to our psychological assessment of the spaces in which we work, on-site experiential investigations and public workspace testing, and the projection of possible futures surrounding the creative workplace. Products and services have involved both digital and physical solutions— from the Scense pods that capture the relaxing aroma of natural herbs and the chromotherapeutic lighting element Spectrum, to the Grey Space app, a unique approach to recommending nearby publicly available and ideal workspaces through crowdsourced reviews and recommendations. Initial Designs Sketches were made in the dozens, ranging from indoor and outdoor workspaces, designs for private offices and co-working spaces, the mobile

office, and for the modern cubicle. Initial prototypes, such as an indoor and outdoor space that exist on a rotating axis for open-air working conditions, or the independent desk with it’s vertically adjustable, opaque horizon that allows for differing levels of privacy between users and their surrounding spaces. These spaces, though thoughtful in terms of an individual’s own privacy, were found to exist only in extreme cases of isolation within urban environments. Ultimately, privacy in an urban working environment is non-existent. It was found that it was another kind of privacy Grey Space was in search of designing for—the private side of public architecture. Grey Space has evolved into an exploration into the places that encourage us to be most at peace, both within ourselves and within the environments we find ourselves interacting with.

The Freelance Chair The design of the Freelance Chair originated in the mobility of the freelancer, focusing on the environments we discover between the home and the office. The intent of the chair is to free the freelancer, transforming Grey Spaces into makeshift workspaces. Laptops fit comfortably within this collapsible, hinged structure, and are easily portable to newly discovered locations. Design for Sensory Stimulation Further designs focused on the human senses as a means of creating a form of sensory influences, and a means of experiencing Grey Space in mobile scenarios. Being that spaces are composed of lighting, sound, scent, material textures and objects present, there are clear relationships to the human senses—sight, touch, taste, smell and sound. The design for sensory stimulation featured a series of interventions tested in interstitial workspaces, using both physical and psychological “mindsets” to promote creative thinking and positive energy in order to achieve increased productivity, and an overall healthier working environment. Design for Smell Smell was the first sense to be explored, specifically our relationship to the smells that have been

shown to influence a person’s ability to be happy. These smells include lavender and Palo Santo wood, and are commonly used to influence the mood of those who inhale their scent. Though smells affect everyone, they are often found to affect each individual differently. They affect our mood and behavior, which, in turn is able to affect our work performance. 19 The ways in which we are affected by odors are not universal, and two individuals will have unique reactions if presented with the same smell—this is a process known as associative learning, or when a person is able to associate a specific event or item with a past experience (see Objects Relations Theory by Melanie Klein in section III). The connection between these events is then able to provoke an uncontrollable response to that situation. An example of this would be similar to walking through a park on a summer’s day and catching the downwind smell of freshly cut grass—those involved may be immediately repulsed, and that comfortable feeling of relaxation they were experiencing has now turned their stomachs sour and left their nerves unsettled. The reason for this can be traced back to a month prior, when those same people were repulsed at the taste of a locally grown wheatgrass shot. The odor has become a subconscious stimulant of this experience and has 19

Evans, Lisa. “6 Scents That Can Transform Your Mood and Productivity.” Entrepreneur.com, 7 Oct. 2012. Web. <http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/224575>.

gained control over the ability to feel disgusted upon the smell of freshly cut grass, and is the origin of our ability to like or dislike certain sensory experiences. Herbalists, as well as indigenous medicinal practices, harness the power of plants for medicinal purposes, believing there is mental and physical remedy to common ailments such as stress and mental fatigue through burning incense, drinking teas, and inhaling aromatherapeutic scents and essential oils. Psychologists understand the human mind as it relates to the world around it, better understanding why humans react the way the do when they encounter a specific scent. Scense Pods Designed for an on-the-go worker, Scense Pods

are small scent-capturing containers featuring perforated holes and self-locking lids to hold and transport scents for personal use throughout the day. Individuals who use Scense Pods daily are more apt to experiencing positive moods throughout their workday, as well as a decrease in mental fatigue and exhaustion. Multiple studies have shown that smells that people like make them feel good, whereas smells that people dislike make them feel bad. Because odors can affect moods, it is possible to identify specific, pleasurable scents that influence how we think and actâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;these, in turn, produce positive moods that have been shown to influence ability. As it can be said that those who are in good moods exhibit higher levels of creativity and drive than those who are in bad moods, odors can produce the same results. If a person is exposed to a pleasurable smell, they are more apt to produce better work.

Design for Light

Spectrum

Lighting was then explored, for this territory of design has the ability to be either exclusively intimate or spatially encompassing depending on the purpose and need for the light, as well as the dynamic and amount of people within the space. Poor choices of lighting in physical workspaces have the power, as well, to hinder the productiv-

Spectrum is a lighting element designed to be the desktop therapist, harnessing the power of natural sunlight and allowing users to create their own unique sources of inspiration and happiness through processes of chromotherapy. The design for Spectrum featured a bi-fold, clear acrylic platform with slots for six Spectrum ColorBars on each end. Users could select from a range of angles to position the platform upon their desk, as the hinge allows for adjustments of forty-five degree intervals. With the platform in place, the user is able to create their own Spectrum of colors based on their desired effect. The inside edge of the platform is inscribed with each color available to use with the product, as well as a brief summary of the benefits and effects of that color. For instance, if a person were to desire increased performance and productivity, as well as a calm and warming presence, they might choose for half of the ColorBars to be blue, and the other half to be pink. The modularity of Spectrum allows users to unleash vast spectrums of color across their workspaces, not only laying claim to their personal territories, but also providing workers with a playful and inspiring push to get them through their day.

ity and creative flow of the mind. Scientists, for example, have found that the introduction of fluorescent lighting in schools and universities since the mid-1900s has negatively impacted the students’ ability to remain focused, attentive and, surprisingly, can result in increased blood pressure. 20 The dimmer the light, the more intimacy within the space—or, oftentimes, the less people present. Small amounts of lighting result in a highly personal atmosphere, and have the power to designate private space within public environments. As the lighting becomes brighter, the more public, or open, the space becomes. Colors, when introduced into lighting, have a variety of effects on the human body—blue encourages focus and is energizing, the body responds with positive thoughts to the warmth of the color yellow, certain hues of pink and green can be used to relieve anxiety and stress, and red can cause excitement. 20 Godbout, Andrea. “Fluorescent Lighting & Children’s Behavior.” Livestrong. Livestrong.com, 28 Jan. 2015. Web. <http://www.livestrong.com/article/562238-fluorescent-lighting-childrens-behavior/>.

The Branding of Marijuana Looking into the psychological side of Grey Space, opportunity was seen in the recent legalization of marijuana across numerous states within the U.S. and in partnership with NY State Senator Liz Krueger to create a cohesive brand identity for legalized, over-the-counter marijuana. By harnessing the health benefits of legalized marijuana and shifting design lenses into what the potential branding of medicinal marijuana could be, the goal of this partnership was to take something initially viewed by a large majority of the public as negative, and framing it in a way that is understood and accepted for its benefits, as well as to educate users of addictive behaviors. Looking into a subject as controversial as illegal substances, and branding a newly legalized product through its health and mental benefits, allows for the opportunity to shift consumer mindsets into seeing something once considered negative as being beneficial to the overworked and mentally exhausted workers. The press release for the partnership of Grey Space and NYC read as follows: “Grey Space, the New York based privacy in design consultancy, is teaming up with State Senator Liz Krueger (D) to introduce a complete packaging redesign of recreational and medical marijuana in the State of New York. Following the recent success of New York’s 2015 Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, Grey Space has released four potential designs focused on the benefits and

proper use of marijuana sold at all major dispensaries in the city. “We’re working hard to educate and inform New Yorkers on the benefits of marijuana to society: relieving anxiety, boosting energy, feeding inspiration and creativity, and alleviating the stresses of everyday life through prescriptive design,” said Lance Green, founder of Grey Space, NYC. The new packaging is expected to arrive on store shelves August of 2015.”

Sensation Experience As a further exploration into the effects of the senses upon the mind, Sensation was a multi-modal, sensory deprivation experiment that took place in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York on Saturday, March 28th, 2015. Within a prescribed atmosphere, visitors were asked to engage with the left portion of their brain within a state of mental flow—a combination of blind contour drawing and sensory exploration. The Ganzfeld Effect was discovered through the research of psychologist Wolfgang Metzer in the 1930s, and is a form of perceptual deprivation caused by exposure to an unstructured, uniform field of sensory stimulation. Effects of such deprivation include the brains ability to search for the missing visual contexts—in turn, multiple senses become amplified, such as our sense of touch, hearing and smell.

Results often include the feeling of visual blindness and altered states of consciousness, allowing colors and geometric patterns to appear within our available line of sight. Similar forms of the Ganzfeld Effect have been traced back as far as the era of Pythagoras, where he would retreat into the darkness of caves as a way to inspire, produce wisdom and hallucinate. In order to reproduce this effect, twenty-five Ganzfeld goggles were produced using halved ping-pong balls and fitted with elastic band. Opening Narration “Thank you, everyone, for being here. In a few short moments you will be participating in a synesthetic exploration of the mind, and the ways in which we are able to experience creativity through our senses. You are about to embark on an expe-

rience tying the psychological with the physical, mind with matter. Please, will the first two proceed into the materials room. The rest of you may remain here until the next round.” Audience Preface “Choose a Spectrum Tool from the table here and lower the Ganzfelds over your eyes. You will proceed through this curtain into the main hall. You will be in there for four minutes in pairs, and any surface that you are able to feel is open for you to use your tool. Once the music begins playing, locate the color you feel best represents the overall mood of the song. Within that color spectrum, use your tool to draw / illustrate the best representation of this mood—you must keep the goggles on at all times, and will be able to remove them once the song has finished. If the first participants could please enter and feel their way to the end of the hall.” Participants were asked to create visual representations of their personal experience, using a Spectrum Tools (oversized crayons) upon a 25 X 10 foot medium, lit from multiple directions with red, blue and yellow lighting. Within these color combinations, participants were asked to locate the most suitable field of light and illustrate their unique feeling of mental flow.

Grey Space: The Mobile Application The U.S. workforce is becoming increasingly mobile, and millions of Americans are already participating in forms of telecommuting—these are the people whose work is done outside of the typical office setting. Telecommuting also refers to the work done outside of a 40-hour week already spent in the office—checking email, returning calls and reporting remotely, usually in the evenings and on the weekends. These workers are known as the independent contractors and the moonlighters; those who frequently find themselves working without a dedicated workspace. In a world where hyper-connectivity has become the status quo, and workers have become increasingly mobile, where are the places we will go in order to get work done efficiently, thoughtfully, and within a form of privacy?

The Grey Space app is a matchmaking service that connects users to a carefully architected network of makeshift and public workspaces near you. Everyone works differently, and Grey Space understands the difficulties of adapting to spaces outside of the office, the feeling of displacement—and that everyone has their own, unique needs. An expertise in the architecture of space, as well as the causes of mental fatigue and lack of productivity in workers, enables Grey Space to offer optimal locations for getting tasks done. Rather than providing results based on what people desire within a space, the mobile application allows users to locate workspaces based on what they don’t want. Spaces are analyzed in terms of distractions found in lighting, sound, scent, material and objects present—to help inspire and prevent unwanted interactions. After download-

ing the Grey Space application free of charge, locations are presented based on their availability and set ‘distracting’ criteria. For prime members Grey Space is also the middleman, collecting perishable inventory from local cooperative and unused workspaces, selling them to freelancers at a discount of the price of a membership or temporary pass, and up to five times each month. Our partnerships with local businesses, gardens, private plazas and rooftops give Prime Members exclusive access to new locations, choosing from the top workspace environments in your area. Upon use of the space, rating and reviewing the experience will give our free users points to redeem at prime locations. We encourage users to discover their own public workspaces by identifying the positive qualities of a space. The application allows users to capture a location, recording specific aspects of the space that were helpful to them for future reference. An example of a free Grey Space location includes Elizabeth Street Garden in the Nolita section of Manhattan. Upon selection, users are presented with a brief summary reading “One of few publicly accessible green space in Manhattan, this area features bench seating, soothing sounds, sun and shade amongst the flora and fauna.” Further enquiry into the space loads a more detailed assessment of the chosen space, such as its availability of natural lighting, lack of wireless internet, as well as recent user-generated photography.

The Future of the Creative Workplace   In this section we will discuss possible futures of the creative workplace in the year 2030. The first is a continuation of life as it existed fifteen years prior; the second being an alternate reality in which the adoption of the Oculus Office, or the virtual reality workspace, has become a mainstream form of communication and company collaboration. What We Can Expect in 2030  The creative workforce of the year 2030 has experienced a major increase in interest by those entering the job force or switching over from what most refer to as “meaningless” work. These generations refuse to participate in forced labor and predetermined career models, but see work as a unique expression of the self, and demand for creative or artistic work is highly competitive. Freelance has taken over half of the workplace, and designers are no longer in house, but sought after by companies with specific project interests. Global trading has decreased drastically due to global terrorist attacks and international disagreements, and commerce has become a process that is strictly between select nations. Although there is a strong increase in the value of American-made products, the possession of data and digital information has made most company assets entirely in-

tangible; leading to a high risk of external hacking and unwanted data loss through enhanced strands of digital viruses from overseas.   The Virtual Office of 2030 Until this point, research has existed in the now. Through means of design speculation, the creative office of the year 2030 was explored to envision a future of work that is almost entirely stripped of the human senses. This is a world where the virtual office has been widely adopted, and designers are now able to create in an alternate and virtual reality. This is a space existing between the home and the office, a territory that involves both physical and digital tools. The design of Grey Space as a virtual platform questions a not-too-distant future in which our bodies will be stressed in new ways through the frequent use of gestural interfaces and rapid body movements. As found with the introduction of the first computer mouse, the long-term effects such constrictions and tightening of the hands would have on our limbs resulted in the introduction of a new form of rheumatoid arthritis. 21 The creative office of the year 2030 has started experiencing these problems, and “osteoculus” has become another classification under chronic inflammatory 21

“Rheumatoid Arthritis & Computing.” NRAS. National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, 19 Dec. 2006. Web. <http://www.nras.org.uk/rheumatoid-arthritis-computing>.

disorders. Osteoculus is a form of arthritis that has developed due to the introduction of virtual reality and gestural interfaces. This disease commonly occurs in the arms and hands when flexible tissues at the ends of bones wear down. A body harness, attached to the rear waist of the user, extends upwards over the shoulders, keeping the hands weightless and extended out in front of the body. The design for a body harness illustrates the potential risks and flaws of an emerging form of gestural user interface that is currently only presented as a sexy, flawless and futuristic technology for the creative workplace. Socializing in Virtual Reality â&#x20AC;¨ The virtual office is a headset-based platform designed for use throughout the workday, either within the home or office. The device has been

adopted at most creative practices as the new way to schedule and hold meetings, interact with remote clients and partners without the hassle of international language barriers, and for collaboration amongst coworkers remotely. If working within the office, employees arrive at an hour of their choice, but with an understanding of fulfilling a predetermined amount of hours for that day. Although most people have worked for the company for over five years, employees pass by fellow employees with the struggle of putting a name to their faces, in the rare occurrence that they are seen outside of their company avatar. Each employee within the office has adopted a company avatar and communication between employees is without gender and within the comfort of the digital realm. Workers have gained the confidence to build their skill sets within this competitive world.

The standing desk spaces used within the virtual office resemble a quarter slice of an oblong sphere. There is an Oculus headset mounted to the wall directly ahead, as well as an array of tools in place upon the desk. To the passerby the station is barren, of no written or graphic substance. The surrounding structure holds no photographs, memos or personal artifacts, but is grey in hue, holding geometrics tools inset into the surface

“meetings” icon has turned an alerting red and, once clicked, the user is presented with a list of upcoming appointments, whether with clients, friends and family, or fellow coworkers. The first event has been highlighted in the same red as before with a warning that states that the heads of each team are to meet in three minutes for the upcoming project. After reading the brief and quickly scanning through the list of attendees, the ‘join’

near the edges. There is a clear surface straight ahead, concave and with plenty of space for one to outstretch their arms. Facing into the workstation feels like staring into a void, calming to a point and entirely useless without the headset.

button is clicked. There are no photos—simply prescribed handles connected to their professional background and network. After an hour in the meeting, everyone logs out and continues working alone in their separate devices.

After lowering the Oculus device over the eyes, users are greeted with the typical loading screen. The line of sight through this device is no different than without, and the 360-degree field of vision allows one to view the digitally enhanced space in ways never before imagined. The walls of the desk have transformed into a dense space full of familiar works and objects, and by moving the arms in prescribed motions a person is able to navigate their way within the space. The tools, unmarked and unrecognizable to the common eye, have transformed into the tools and devices needed for the user’s specific line of work. A transition takes users to a homepage that features a dashboard of frequently used applications. The headlining options for this specific avatar: workspace, meetings, calendar, break and log out. The

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Opportunity has been seen in the development of multiple audience personas and user journeys, as well as in the rise in popularity of telecommuting and fall of the nine to five office jobs. Workers are now ditching the office for a more lifestyle-oriented line of work. Whether this involves the recent shift to the open-office or the popularity of freelance jobs and telecommuting, results have proven to increase productivity and relieve common stresses and mental fatigues found in office-based employees.

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Grey Space is a design mentality focused on improving productivity in scenarios where oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home and work life begins to blend, and serving as a solution in the selection of the interstitial spaces we find ourselves most creative, of highest comfort, or free of distraction. As a carefully chosen workspace allows for a higher level of thoughtful output, the restrictions on telecommuting are beginning to loosen, and the workforce is being set free of their cubicles. Internet is now the tie between home and office and, as long as the connection is strong, mobile workers can adapt. However, because hyper-connectivity is increasingly being accepted as the social norm, it is more important than ever to understand the effects of staring into an electronic device for more than eight hours in a day, as well as to prepare beforehand with the necessary transitional and behavioral practices to prevent mental fatigue or

lack of creative thought, among other effects related to digital overload. Workers who find themselves in this situation often fail to realize such an overload is occurring, as hyper-connectivity has slowly been introduced to society through a large series of upgrades. It is not, however, too late to return to a state of balance between the state of connect and disconnect, the home and the office, the black, the white and the grey. The benefits of Grey Space are expected primarily for the remaining nine-to-fivers and the freelancers, those generating ideas in a creative field, and the recreational workers such as readers, hobbyists, and leisurely writers. The primary audience is between twenty and sixty years of age, and has somehow been affected by the recent need for hyper-connected devices in and outside of the creative workplace. Users are conditioned

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to having to adapt to alternative workspaces and open office environments, as well as being immediately responsive to an email on their phone if the situation requires it. To them, there is no off mode, but only standby.

fort, interiors and transcendence. Those who predate mobile technology are also of interest, as their knowledge in home and workplace balance can provide insight into the historical origins of this topic. With this, the millennial is ripe with insight as to where future of this topic is best suited for purposes of Grey Space design executions.

With the recent success of telecommuting as an option for larger corporations and businesses, it is

Similar to the aforementioned range of design

now common for users to find themselves working from coffee shops, local businesses and parks, outdoor seating arrangements or rooftopsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a place with a public internet connection if the need calls for it, a table surface for writing, reading, drawing, or a light to witness their create outflow. It would not be uncommon to see a person unload an entire bag of equipment and stake out their workspace in public domain; it would be just as natural to see a person reading a book up in a tree. But for a person to claim a space at a coffee shop, or a table in a crowded plaza, and to remove their work-related materials from their bag and set up shopâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;this is the person being targeted.

backgrounds, it is important to acknowledge the fields in which the range of work Grey Space produces will touch upon, from the herbalists and psychologists who study the effects of the world around us on human behavior and the mind, to the architects and landscape designers who create the places in which we find ourselves most attracted to. Architects, with the immense power to manipulate and prescribe human reactions based on their decision to draft the blueprints of a public building in their own unique and sinister way. Architects are able to make the human do with their entire body what designers make them do with their hands.

The ideologies of Grey Space falls in line with numerous design backgrounds, many of which would aid in its development, ranging from user experience and interaction designers, architects and their prescriptive influence on human behavior through way-finding restrictions, to designers who design for the human senses: lighting and emotion, scent and memory, furniture and com-

Along this line is the landscape designer, and their skill for the recreation of flora and fauna amidst concrete and glass, to turn desolate space into micro-habitats. With the wild popularity of the High Line park in New York City, James Corner of James Corner Field Operations had the power to transform an inactive railway line into a location visited by more than five millions people per year,

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and to gentrify and entire portion of New York City in the process. 22 A large majority of these users are the nine-to-fivers, the freelancers and the telecommuters, those working or delving into a creative field, and the recreational workers—readers, hobbyists, those who sketch, or are leisurely writers. Whether in the office, at home or on the go, the following are typical users of Grey Space, starting with The Fresh Face, a twenty-something year old computer-based creative type who works long hours and enjoys simple transitions between work and home life. Following that is The Go-Getter, a late-twenties, energetic type who is on the brink of making something of themselves. The Go-Getter puts in long hours and, on the side, works freelance jobs in order to further themselves professionally. They are in hopes of someday owning their own company. Next is The In-Betweener, a mid-thirties creative who spends most of their days outside of the office. For The In-Betweener, things come and go as quickly as a text message, and being present physically and digitally is important. They like to pass their time writing in a sketchbook, or drawing on commute between meetings. Lastly is The Seasoned, a mid-forties hyper-aware type who does their best work alone. The Seasoned understands 22

Moss, Jeremiah. “Disney World on the Hudson.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 21 Aug. 2012. Web. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/22/opinion/inthe-shadows-of-the-high-line.html?_r=0>.

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the world around them as it exists, and is open to technology as long as they can take it with them to the park. The Fresh Face Adam is a twenty-five year old industrial designer from Los Angeles, California. He recently moved to New York City to work at a product design and strategy firm in Dumbo making upward of sixty grand a year. In a typical workweek Adam can be seen staring at a computer screen for five hours in a day, not taking into account the extra four to five hours he spends on his cell phone or laptop each day outside of work. Work is fairly monotonous for Adam, the three hours he gets away from his computer is spent either in front of his lunch or in meetings. The latter half of his lunch, in particular, is saved for his slow transi-

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tion back into a work mentality. Adam sometimes plays an RPG on his Android phone, or checks to see what his friends are up to on Instagram, but neither of these seem to help him in feeling any more motivated to finish out his day strong. There is also that four oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;clock bathroom break he takes, and he knows there is only one more hour before he gets to catch the train back home. Majority of Adamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s schedule is set in stone, and despite its monotony, he finds solace in the repetition and delight in the small surprises of his daily routine. The Go-Getter Sarah is a twenty-eight year old interior designer from Miami, Florida who will sleep when she is dead. At first glance, Sarah appears to have it all together. Internally, though, sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experiencing deep mental fatigue, high stress, and frequent

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mental blocks. Her schedule outside of her nineto-five job involves freelance work and hopes of someday opening up her own practice. Keeping up appearances is what makes her whole situation work, and staying sane is the first requirement. Sarah expects to be putting in more work than usual for the next few years of her life, as she has set high goals and demands for herself. Sarah has the newest iPhone, and that phone has a purple case on it. Sarah also went for the lime green MacBook case and the turquoise iPad case—she finds herself looking at these devices a lot, checking up on the latest design news, events and happenings. The colors make her subconscious-self happy, although she has never fully realized this. Sarah has small moments throughout her day when she can take a break, although they often happen randomly and without previous notice. Her lunch sched-

ule is consistent, though she takes exactly the amount of time needed to eat and uses the rest for playing catch-up on personal work or staying up-to-date on design trends. Once five o’clock approaches, Karen heads home to grab dinner before heading to the coffee shop by her house to get in a few extra hours of work. The coffee shop is nice, and she has specifically chosen it based on the large tables and extraordinary amounts of sunlight it gets on Saturday and Sunday mornings. The In-Betweener Nathan is a thirty-four year old creative director for an advertising agency in the city. Born in Denver, Colorado, he’s had a solid taste of both the urban and rural, and the city has been his home for over ten years. In a typical workweek Nathan spends three to four hours per day on his iPhone

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or Macbook Air—he loves a laptop that is light enough to take home each day. Within the last two years, Nathan’s company has been allowing up to twenty-five hours of telecommuting per week as a test-run. Nathan has tried out this method, but finds it a little difficult to set up his working environment away from both his home and his office. Since the company also pays for his phone, he’s been receiving emails and work-related notifications wherever he goes, and is a little nervous that his company monitors his phone and laptop usage. Other hobbies of Nathan’s include leisurely writing, sketching strangers on the subway during his commute, and keeping a thought journal. Nathan’s schedule isn’t always nine-to-five, as a lot of his day is spent meeting with clients across Manhattan. Lunch is not always at twelve o’clock, but sometimes an hour before or, when his schedule is extra packed, not at all. A consistent thread

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throughout Nathan’s day is that he is constantly in connection with this work. The Seasoned Karen is a forty-five year old graphic designer from Queens, New York. Her office is located in the Flatiron District of Manhattan, located just one floor above a restaurant and bar. For the most part her office is a peaceful working environment, though its tight spaces, low wall divisions and creaky floors make for an unpleasant experience when clients or guests decide to stop by. If Karen leans far enough back in her work chair she is able to make out the treetops of Madison Square Park. Karen has a strong fascination in the world around her, and often relies on the energy and observation of it to inspire her work. Her dedication to her job is strong, though she believes

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that having spent the last twenty-five years in an office cubicle has taken a toll on her. Over the last few months she has been packing her materials and sneaking over to the neighboring park for some fresh air and productive work. The project she is currently working on requires her to both hand-sketch and use her MacBook Pro simultaneously, first on paper and then on tablet. Karen might also find herself taking her Nikon in order to collect inspiration en routeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;New Yorkers are, after all, the target audience in her work. Karen is quick to remain relevant by staying up-to-date on the latest tech releases and design trends. She is comfortable in using her iPhone as a means of communication, but is also very aware of its distracting qualities. In conclusion, Grey Space was formed as a solution to the rise in telecommuting, the pop-

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ularity of working from outside the office, and the hyper-connectivity of the digital age. Grey Space is a design mentality focused on improving productivity in scenarios where oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home and work life begins to blend, serving as a solution in the selection of the interstitial spaces we find ourselves most creative, of highest comfort, or free of distraction. In a time when the expectation of our connection to work is common, as well as the need for instantaneous responseâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;where is the privacy in our daily lives? What are the transitional elements, or the recognition of the boundaries between work and home as it relates to telecommuters and those whose office life extends outside of the office?

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Looking Forward

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Found Methods for Reducing Distractions   Preventing the things that get us off task can be done in ways easier than one may imagine, and often without the confrontation that comes with bringing to light the source of our distractions. That is, to say, one must be aware of these sources of attention. Maybe it’s a sound, an individual or group, a movement within your line of sight, a peculiar smell, the presence of social media, email and alerts on our devices—oftentimes it will be a combination of these—that is hindering upon your ability to get work done. Whatever this may be, the first step to prevention is awareness.   Often the most distractions take place because of a device that has gained popularity—as well as great advances in technology—over the past decade: the smartphone. More than half of all

Americans own a smartphone, though few seem to be aware of the negative effects it has on our ability to concentrate on a task at hand. Notifications are ongoing throughout the day, especially in fast-paced, and digitally connected office environments. It is necessary to limit these distractions, whether by enabling the devices sleep mode or scheduling a phone to remain silent for the duration of the work. It is frequently a company-wide problem, receiving a stream of notifications, texts and emails throughout the day. Turning the phone on silent and closing all forms of social media from the browsing window will limit distractions: Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, Twitter and LinkedIn (unless related to the task at hand). A desire to check these upon seeing a red icon appear will only cause yet another interruption against our desire to reach a creative flow. Returning to a stream of efficient work after being thrown

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off track is similar to the struggle of falling back asleep upon being woken abruptly.   Developing a personal, or even office-wide, implementation of a daily schedule for distraction-free work can help preserve and designate the time needed to get work done efficiently. Times throughout the day when you find yourself working most efficiently, or are able to block off

locations within the office other than your desk can also stimulate new lines of thought, as your mind may need a break from staring at the familiarity of your desk.   If unwanted sounds are your problem, including conversations brought on by passersby or nosey coworkers, the solution may be as simple as putting on a pair of headphones. Whether or not

an hour or more of your schedule, are best. These times should be made aware to your coworkers. Posting a consistent timeframe is a safe bet, either on the door to your office, the wall of your cubicle, or sitting at the side of your desk on a folded tent card. Leave it there and make it seen, as it will remind others and prevent future intrusions.   Arrive early or stay late—there may be an hour of your day when you find that the office is most empty. These times are often in the mornings before people arrive or late afternoons when everyone has left. A lot of work can be done in this time, and with minimal distractions. The Grey Spaces one can discover within the office are found in the rooms left empty, the conference rooms that lay unused, or floors that have been vacant for a year. Working from a laptop or tablet can make your work easily mobile. Some of these locations may not include wireless Internet capabilities; although one may find the absence of online connection a blessing rather than a curse, as it is one less distraction on the list. Working in

you turn them on is entirely up to you—just put them on, and make sure to plug them in. Others are less likely to interrupt if you appear to be in concentration or on the phone. You may also choose to set up barriers—if there is a particular spot in your line of sight that you find distracting, you may find solutions by blocking these areas with tall objects: a shelf of books, a plant or tackboard. Maybe it’s a frequently used area of the office such as the printer or kitchen; the goal is to block visual distractions.

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Identifying Grey Spaces   Take the path less traveled—people may find themselves taking the same route each day, and most likely it’s been discovered that this is the most convenient way to get to that specific destination. They leave with just enough time to get there, and take into account any stops you need to make on their way. Workers do this each day, five days a way—the same path. Taking a different route, though seemingly more of a hassle

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than a reward, allows oneself to be exposed to a greater number of new experiences. That coffee shop and gallery two blocks out of the way, for instance, or the three foot tall, two foot wide wall built around the church five blocks over (which has ample amount of space for you to read or write. Allowing for the extra time of exploration between location and destination may also inspire new states of mind and an increase in energy and

Staring at a map of the campus and its surrounding neighborhoods (which most students would walk from to get to their classes) proved effective—the students realized that each path they took, other than walking through plazas, were at right angles, and had significantly limited their chances in the discovery of new territories. Massive structures were in the way of what are known as their desire paths, or

impromptu curiosity.   Take the Longer Route

social trails—these are the paths that represent the shortest and most easily navigable routes between one’s origin and destination. These paths are often seen as shortcuts that people take to avoid the seemingly more complex and architected routes set by landscape designers and building standards. To the students, infinite opportunity for exploration and documentation was seen in the paths discovered through the buildings that were once in their way. With cameras in cargo, the designers set out each day on paths that wound through of the university’s eccentric past—the sterile modernity of the McCombs School of Business with its glass entrances and high ceilings, or the School of Architecture, lined with intricate tiling and creaking stairwells that open into a perfectly manicured courtyard full of falling buds from the rows of flowering Saucer Magnolia trees. The once monotonous path of documentation that the students had previously taken was now blooming with discovery.

Having a destination in mind and allowing oneself to get lost in their daily commute will allow for a greater opportunity for discovering new spaces to work and escape the everyday routine. Riley Triggs, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, gave a lecture on the history of architecture and humans cognitive response to the navigation of designed spaces. The end product, a collection of daily photos relating to a chosen topic, would take a full semester for the class to complete. Each day, students were asked to discover a new representation of their topic, take a photo and describe the reasoning behind their choice. The requirements were simple, and each day they were asked to take a new route to a frequented destination. After a while it seemed to the students that there weren’t many options, as it didn’t make sense to walk ten blocks out of the way to catch a single photo.

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