a couple things i can’t stop thinking about
This issue of Differentiated Design is supported by West Elm's Thanksgiving Shop
The return of the study. I've made videos and written about the idea of analog spaces before—the intersection of a library, office, and an artist/writer's studio.
"Library" today seems overplayed - a cosplay of false doors, dark paint, nailhead leather chairs, and a little Bond villain sprinkled in. It's really the 2020's upscale version of a man cave, likely serving as a way to justify square footage in a mammoth house.
The word "office" similarly feels overly prescriptive and optimized—standing desks, an ergonomic chair, lots of outlets, and tech.
Study is the right word - a concept that has existed for a long time; it's just not as common a term today.
Design by @clementsdesign
Photography by @wabranowicz
I'm picturing a room with large windows, a healthy ratio of wood to drywall, and a couple big bookshelves. There is a large central table or desk with a bunch of open loops - open books, photos, sketches, different trains of thought - paths to still be explored.
Claude Berri's home on rue de Lille, Paris. (via @sebeau___ )
There are things to touch, feel, and look at. Maybe a collection of something - your unique quirks. There is an art or sculpture in the room. You could imagine a piano or a typewriter. There's probably a lounge chair or small sofa.
via Pinterest, source unknown
This room is really a gym for the mind & creativity. I think this is what many people today long for but are unable to articulate.
It feels like the appropriate time to start creating them again, as the pendulum has begun to swing away from tech maximalism (remember screen fridges?).
Skylights as architecture. This seems to have peaked in the mid-80s with atrium-style suburban homes. And Wendy's.
Not sure if a more 80s contemporary photo exists. Image from "Beyond the Kitchen: A Dreamer's Guide" by Thomas Cowan, 1985
A boxed room of glass or at least glass walls. You could call it a sun room or a solarium or an atrium. While initially born out of the late 70s passive solar movement, extensive glass walls and ceilings became extremely popular especially in the southwest US, but by the mid-90s it seem to have fallen out of vogue.
Su Wu home in Roma Norte, photographer/publication unknown
That said, this is another one of those styles that I think people really long for (extremely popular on Pinterest & Instagram, yet few are actually doing it). This is also something that doesn't have to be executed in an 80s contemporary style - you could go very Victorian symmetrical conservatory with it.
I predict that you'll see a lot more of this reimagined into new construction in the years ahead.
