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White Box | Workplace

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White Box in an office interior is comprised of painted white gypsum walls, a white gypsum or acoustical tile ceiling, and seamless neutral floor of hardwood or carpet tile.

research

The archetypical practice, White Box, has been identified in museum, retail, boutique hotel, house, and now, the workplace.1 Characterized by white wall and ceiling planes and a continuous neutral colored floor, the space itself becomes a homogenous entity, no longer differentiated into floor, ceiling, and walls. White Box is a space that "begins losing its geometric characteristics until it is converted into a non-ultra space".2

In an office environment, White Box is most prevalent in general office spaces and large conference rooms where a large number of people use and inhabit the same area on a daily basis. White Box is often the "container" for open office plans where furniture and workspaces are arranged systematically along a grid (see the Intype Marching Order | Workplace).

Effect
The use of White Box in a corporate setting is dependent upon the type of work conducted within the office. In The Successful Office, Professor Frank Becker identified three types of workplaces: the creative office, the administrative office, and the client-oriented office. Many times, all three types of spaces may be found within a larger workplace environment. White Box is most often used in an administrative setting where "the sharp roller-coaster-like bursts of energy and intensity found in creative offices are rarer," and comfort "tends to be downplayed. In the administrative world, efficiency means order and organization".3 From behavioral and productivity standpoints, White Box, with its lack of ornamentation or visual variety reinforces a sense of "order" that is desirable. A common topic of discussion in contemporary workplace design is the concept of personalization as a key to a comfortable and inspirational environment. In a space where dozens of people share a common area, one's own desk or activity space are the only places where personalization are likely to occur. Researcher Thomas Hine posits in On the Job that "Office workers actually prefer their workplaces to be devoid of strong color. They like neutrality, perhaps because they recognize that if a strong taste is expressed in the space, it won't be theirs. More likely, it will be that of a top executive who confuses his own quirks with the personality of the entire company."4

Beginning in the 1980s when behavioral research indicated that white walls were harsh on the eyes,5 and were "not always understood as human friendly,"6 the White Box paradigm shifted slightly in both retail and the workplace.7 Designers introduced a single plane that was treated with an accent color, texture, or Billboard (Intype) with visual content that contributed to the branding of a specific corporate environment. Nevertheless, for the greater part of the 20th century, White Box was a standard practice in the design of offices, perhaps more prevalent than designers would acknowledge, since "those deciding which office designs were published had a natural bias against visual neutrality, and the designs remembered are likely to be those in which a strong executive is actively trying to use design to shape culture".8 Becker stated that "White walls cannot be beat, but painting one wall as an accent wall a relatively bright color will add life to a room without becoming overpowering".9 Ultimately, however, White Box's inherent neutrality is an inoffensive and safe color choice in a setting in which hundreds of people inhabit on a daily basis.

Chronological Sequence
The Modernist movement introduced the White Box in residential and the art museum, and it also became a major design strategy in the workplace. During the period of time after WWI, American architecture embodied the beliefs that "rational thought, economy and functionality" were integral to transforming society. Architects believed that "rational designs could best be produced through mechanization, yielding efficient, somehow machine-made buildings".10 With the development of the International Style architects broke away from traditional building styles and focused on volumes that  depended greatly upon the "intrinsic elegance of materials, perfection, and fine proportions as opposed to applied ornament".11  

This post-war sentiment, combined with the influence of the International style, was evident in the workplace designs of the era. White Box interiors reflected the demand for minimalist, unadorned architecture while simultaneously adhering to the rigid formality and "military organization"12 required by business owners in respect to the design of their office buildings. In the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society Building (1932) designed by Howe & Lescaze, rows of work desks were encased by White box, creating a neutral setting that was not visually distracting.

The International Style continued to influence the workplace design through the 1940 and 1950 decades, with White Box as a standard element within the office.  Greater spans of curtain walls in skyscrapers transformed buildings into glass shells which   brought a tremendous amount of natural light into the interior, as evidenced in the Skidmore, Owings & Merrill design of Lever House (1952). White Box reflects natural light, creating a brighter and more desirable work environment where there is much less need for harsh and poor quality overhead lights.

By the 1960 decade, the post-war mentality of orderly, strictly hierarchical designs began to give way in favor of more worker-friendly environments that were intended to create a nurturing and supportive workplace. White Box remained a widely used design strategy, but bare white walls become increasingly adorned with works of art or other elements of visual interest. In a lounge space in the American Republic Insurance Company offices (1965), a White Box waiting area was accented with large paintings and the ubiquitous trpical plant helped to make white walls less stark.13

The Colt Industries office by the Eggers Partnership (1971) provides a small case study of the use of White Box in various spaces, including a long corridor.14 In the corridor, a neutral carpeted floor. White walls and ceilings reflected the artificial light from ceiling fixtures, allowing the space to achieve a glowing quality. A white wall provided an indistinct background for wooden furniture. The Eggers Partnership also used accent elements, such as a lacquered, dark color door.

In the 1980 decade, designers transformed White Box offices into semblances of art museums.  For the Anaconda Company (1980) SOM conceived White Box lobby that included three museum display strategies.15 The first was a White Box. The second included a series of vitrines set on white pedestals for the display of objects.  Third, on the opposite wall, objects were r placed in a niche, accented by a Light Seam (Intype). In creating the lobby as gallery, SOM's design goal was to impress the visitor with Anaconda's interest in art and culture.  

Eber, Hannum and Volz adopted a similar museum aesthetic for the Highlands Energy Corporation office (1983).16 Spaced in a Marching Order down a corridor, conference rooms were treated as objects worthy of museum display; each room was set on a museum plinth, as if the room was art. As employees or visitors walked down the hall, they viewed the empty room or an inhabited room, as if all were high art, to a Marching Order.

White Box in the 1990 decade contintued in popularity, as it was implemented in spaces of varying sizes. In larger, volumetricareas, however, White Box produced  a more dramatic effect. In the entry lobby of the Prudential Insurance Company (1991), White Box extended  to the double height ceilings.17 White was  also applied to the Showcase Stair and interior columns. With a uniformly white canvas, one's attention was drawn to the sculptural forms of the architecture itself.

In the offices of Ian Schrager Hotels (1999), the client requested a workplace that provided a range of spaces to suit work needs while simultaneously being able to showcase his collection of designed objects. The interior landscape of "white-painted, high and low partition walls create a series of compressed and expanded spaces. This organization also allows for the prominent display of furniture as art. Space is used as a frame in which objects are the center of attention".18  

From 2000 to 2010, examples of White Box continued to be implemented in new and creative ways. A change in color also occurred. In previous decades, off-white color was typical, but since 2000, the popular choice became bright, pure white. There were also manipulations of the wall plane, from a plain plane as a gallery wall, to sculptural forms. Such was the case in the TBWA/Chiat/Day offices by Clive Wilkinson (2001).19 White rectangular forms were stacked to create interior partitions.

Neil M. Denari Architects utilized the White Box treatment for the offices of Endeavor (2005), applying it in the largest conference room, as well as in the open plan workspace.20 The open plan space demonstrated a trend begun about 1980 in White Box reiterations. White walls were interrupted by a single plane of bright color as an accent. The accent plane typically featured a company's brand identity in graphics, such as a Billboard (Intype) or mural. Bright colors and graphics broke up White Box's pristine white uniformity.

Although designers manipulated the White Box through its decades of use, by the end of the 2010 decade, it remained the dominant reiterative practice for workplace spaces. Although White Box has been questioned in terms of sustainability, its widespread use and longevity suggests that it is firmly entrenched culturally and will not likely be replaced.21

end notes

  1. 1) Joori Suh. "Theory Studies: Contemporary Museum and Exhibition Spaces" (M.A. Thesis, Cornell University, 2003), 94-98; Mijin Juliet Yang. "Theory Studies: Contemporary Boutique Hotel Designs." (M.A. Thesis, Cornell University, 2005); Leah Scolere, "Theory Studies: Contemporary Retail Design" (M.A. Thesis, Cornell University, 2004); Marta Raquel Mendez, "Theory Studies: Archetypical Practices of Contemporary House Design" (MA Thesis, Cornell University, 2008), 129-31.
  2. 2) Brian O'Doherty, White Cube: The Ideology of the Gallery Space (Berkeley, Cal.: University of California Press, 1986), 35.
  3. 3) Franklin Becker, The Successful Office: How to Create a Workspace That's Right for You (Reading: Mass.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1982), 134-36.
  4. 4) Thomas Hine, excerpt from "Office Intrigues: The Interior Life of Corporate Culture" in On the Job: Design and the American Office, ed. Donald Albrecht (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2000), 140.
  5. 5) Julie K. Rayfield, The Office Interior Design Guide: An Introduction for Facilities Managers and Designers (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1994), 182-83.
  6. 6) Mendez, "Theory Studies", 131.
  7. 7) Leah Scolere. "Theory Studies: Contemporary Retail Design" (M.A. Thesis, Cornell University, 2004), 30. 
  8. 8) Thomas Hine, excerpt from Office Intrigues in On the Job: Design and the American Office, ed. Donald Albrecht (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2000), 140.
  9. 9) Becker, The Successful Office, 46.
  10. 10) Marian Moffett, Michael Fazio, and Lawrence Wodehouse, Buildings Across Time (Singapore: McGraw Hill, 2004), 475.
  11. 11) Moffett, Buildings Across Time, 475.
  12. 12) Donald Albrecht, excerpt from On the Job, 25.
  13. 13) American Republic Insurance Company [1965] SOM; Des Moines, Iowa in John Pile, Second Book of Offices (New York, Whitney Publications, 1969): 224; PhotoCrd: Ezra Stoller.
  14. 14) Colt Industries [1971] Eggers Partnership; New York, NY in Anonymous, "Colt Industries, Inc.," Interior Design 42, no. 10 (Oct. 1971): 140; PhotoCrd: Gil Amiaga.
  15. 15) Anaconda Company [1980] SOM; Denver, CO in R.P., "Anaconda Tower," Interior Design 51, no. 5 (May 1980): 212; PhotoCrd: Jaime Ardiles-Arce.
  16. 16) Highlands Energy Corporation [1983] Eber, Hannum & Volz; San Francisco, CA in J.G.T., "Architectural Enlightenment," Interior Design 54, no. 4 (April 1983): 183; PhotoCrd: Colin McRae.
  17. 17) Prudential Insurance Company [1991] Daroff Design; Fort Washington, PA in Karen Maserjian, "Right Angles," Interior Design 62, no. 1 (Jan. 1991): 133; PhotoCrd: Wolfgang Hoyt.
  18. 18) Ian Schrager Hotels [1999] Gwathmey Siegel & Associates; New York, NY in Abby Bussel, "King of the Hill," Interior Design 70, no. 11 (Sept. 1999): 181; PhotoCrd: Michael Moran.
  19. 19) TBWA/Chiat/Day [2001] Clive WIlkinson; New York, NY in Edie Cohen, "Shipshape," Interior Design 72, no. 5 (May 2001): 327; PhotoCrd: Benny Chan.
  20. 20) Endeavor [2005] Neil M. Denari Architects; Los Angeles, CA in Edie Cohen, "Name in Lights," Interior Design 76, no. 2 (Feb. 2005): 188, 190; PhotoCrd: Benny Chan/Fotoworks.
  21. 21) Evidence for the archetypical use and the chronological sequence of White Box in workplace design was developed from the following primary sources: 1950 Lever House [1952] Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; NYC; 1960 American Republic Insurance Company [1965] SOM; Des Moines, Iowa in John Pile, Second Book of Offices (New York, Whitney Publications, 1969): 224; PhotoCrd: Ezra Stoller / 1970 Colt Industries [1971] Eggers Partnership; New York, NY in Anonymous, "Colt Industries, Inc.," Interior Design 42, no. 10 (Oct. 1971): 140; PhotoCrd: Gil Amiaga / 1980 Anaconda Company [1980] SOM; Denver, CO in R.P., "Anaconda Tower," Interior Design 51, no. 5 (May 1980): 212; PhotoCrd: Jaime Ardiles-Arce; Highlands Energy Corporation [1983] Eber, Hannum & Volz; San Francisco, CA in J.G.T., "Architectural Enlightenment," Interior Design 54, no. 4 (April 1983): 183; PhotoCrd: Colin McRae / 1990 Prudential Insurance Company [1991] Daroff Design; Fort Washington, PA in Karen Maserjian, "Right Angles," Interior Design 62, no. 1 (Jan. 1991): 133; PhotoCrd: Wolfgang Hoyt; Ian Schrager Hotels [1999] Gwathmey Siegel & Associates; New York, NY in Abby Bussel, "King of the Hill," Interior Design 70, no. 11 (Sept. 1999): 181; PhotoCrd: Michael Moran / 2000 BWA/Chiat/Day [2001] Clive WIlkinson; New York, NY in Edie Cohen, "Shipshape," Interior Design 72, no. 5 (May 2001): 327; PhotoCrd: Benny Chan; Endeavor [2005] Neil M. Denari Architects; Los Angeles, CA in Edie Cohen, "Name in Lights," Interior Design 76, no. 2 (Feb. 2005): 188, 190; PhotoCrd: Benny Chan/Fotoworks.

bibliographic citations

1) The Interior Archetypes Research and Teaching Project, Cornell University, www.intypes.cornell.edu (accessed month & date, year).

2) Yin, Shuqing. "Theory Studies: Archetypical Workplace Practices in Contemporary Interior Design." M.A. Thesis, Cornell University, 2011, 100-15.