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The spatial context of organizations: A critique of ‘creative workspaces’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2017

Donatella De Paoli ,
Erika Sauer  and
Arja Ropo
Donatella De Paoli*
Affiliation:
Department of Leadership and Organizational Behaviour, BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo, Norway
Erika Sauer
Affiliation:
Amcham Finland Inc., New York City, NY, USA
Arja Ropo
Affiliation:
Faculty of Management, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland
*
Corresponding author: Donatella.d.paoli@bi.no
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Abstract

This paper examines office design as a spatial context of organizations. Organizations increasingly invest in designing workspaces to support employee creativity, foster company innovation and communicate a positive company image. This paper takes a critical view of this ‘hype’ by describing and analysing images of the headquarters of allegedly ‘creative workspaces’ published on the internet across a broad range of industries and corporations. Our analysis shows how their design follows standardized or stereotypical approaches to nurturing creativity: playfully or artistically designed open spaces, environments reminiscent of home, sports and play, nature, past/future technologies, or culturally aligned symbols. We discern underlying connections between office spaces and creativity, suggesting that creativity flourishes in happy, relaxed and playful communities within close-knit teams. We then identify three contradictions in relation to the existing literature on creativity and workspaces: individually versus collectively produced creativity; professionally designed workspaces versus workspaces created through participation; and planned versus emerging creativity.

Keywords

creativityworkspacecreative spaceoffice designcritique
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 25 , Issue 2 , March 2019 , pp. 331 - 352
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2017 

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