JOURNAL

Why your workplace
needs more art…

What makes our house a HOME besides ourselves? Probably some old family furniture, but definitely not the IKEA ones, everyone has those. Probably some plant we bought and grows massively. There’s lots of little things that make a house a home, but just a few play such an important role as art.

That painting your sibling made, those photographs from last summer trip, those weird framed illustrations from your children, that canvas from that cool local artist. When we hang something on our walls we are “showing” everyone who we are..

While we were at home doing remote work, we valued how much we wanted a nice, inspiring, thoughtful space for us to spend time. A room with a comfortable chair, nice natural light, a bunch of plants and beautiful illustrations we purchased from that small local gallery. We spent a lot of time at home, and we made it meaningful to us.

Art has always been a way for people to express themselves either by making it or enjoying it. Art is within our core pleasures, we need it to allow our minds to relax and expand.

Before the world turned upside down we spent a lot of time at the office, was it that meaningful to us? Why are there so many people that still don't want to go back? Lots of factors like commuting time, fear of getting sick, new home tasks, etc.

But there is a big one companies are aware of, people are feeling disconnected from the company culture.

Art and culture is at the
core of what makes us human.

This is one of the reasons lots of companies have been moving towards the hybrid model, where people attend the office 2 or 3 days a week. So a lot of them had to redesign their spaces - now they have less desks, more breakout and flexible areas, introduced collaboration points and outdoor areas. The workspace has changed, and with that, its cultural function.

Companies need to make employees and clients feel engaged, inspired and culturally bonded to their workspaces. We need them to feel appreciated, that they are designing spaces that are thought for them and not for the company. The office has to be the place to make the company culture stronger, a place for creative expansion.

If you are an employer, you should ask yourself, what are you doing to retain your current employees and attract top tier talent. Free coffee and a sit-stand desk isn’t enough. You need to provide and nurture a safe, comfortable and inspiring work environment. You must provide a space employees use because they want to. Not because they have to.

The office shouldn’t replace HOME for employees, but it should be the brand's HOME and therefore we need to think of it a bit more like we would think of our HOMES, functional, comfortable, engaging and inspiring. 

We need to bring art into the workspace, from reception murals, to tiny framed prints on banquettes, from big painted canvases on meeting rooms to a set of photographs on hallways, or why not funky neons or sculptures on those forgotten building corners!

Through art we can communicate not only the brand values but we can make the space express them. Why not rather than saying with a quote on a wall “We are passionate”, let’s make a huge red expressive abstract paint splash on a canvas, just like you would at your own house. By making the office feel more like the brand’s home and be able to “show” on the walls who we are rather than “say it” in every corner. A company mission statement on a wall looks cool, but does it inspire?

It’s not “One Function Fits All” anymore. Office spaces will be more fluid in the near future. And spaces can become more flexible and stimulating through the correct use of art. Just like when people go to an art gallery to get “thinking”. Why not talk about art programs for reception lobbies, where local artists are commissioned to do pieces to provide surprise and delight for employees and visitors to the space. So much to be done, so many empty walls, so many stories to be told.

– NACHO VARONE, DESIGN DIRECTOR