Office Interiors and the Fantasy of Information Work

Authors

  • Renyi Hong University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31269/triplec.v15i2.763

Keywords:

Office, Neoliberal Subjectivity, Affective Labor, History, Critical Design, Corporate Space, Affect Theo-ry

Abstract

This essay provides a historical context to the office interiors, describing its capacity to enchant the sphere of work and to transform the subjectivities of workers. Focusing on Florence Knoll and Robert Propst, American designers who contributed to the modern aesthetic in the postwar, I highlight how the sale of offices conveyed a fantasy of information work. Knoll and Propst had marketed their ideas using showrooms, textiles, seminars, and informational materials. These communicative practices emphasized the sensate quality of information work, which coached workers to recognize and interpret the visual, aural, and tactile quality of work environments. By doing so, it tied sensations of pleasure to the prospect of self-transformation, which provides basis for the modern attachment to beautified workspaces.

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Author Biography

  • Renyi Hong, University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

    Doctoral Student

    University of Southern California

    Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

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Published

2017-05-31

Issue

Section

Articles