Typologies: O+A’s Field Guide to Space Planning
As Primo and Verda traveled around the world speaking to students, developers, the press and other designers it became apparent that audiences were—if not clamoring for, at least politely inquiring about—a book detailing O+A’s approach to design. TYPOLOGIES is not exactly that—it’s more of a guide to the basics of space planning, but it does open a window onto the O+A aesthetic. Conceived as a field guide to the vocabulary of workplace design, the book identifies ten space types commonly spotted in the wilds of American office architecture.
Because O+A likes to approach every project—even a self-promotion project—from a unique perspective, TYPOLOGIES includes a bonus feature: a fictional love story structured around the ten space types. This novella was initially conceived by Verda and Al as a murder mystery in the vein of the old board game CLUE, but it quickly changed into a romance as its author realized there is more love than murder in the process of design.
Contributors: Elizabeth Vereker, Jasper Sanidad, Al McKee, Kelly Waters, Olivia Ward, Primo Orpilla, Verda Alexander, Denise Cherry, Colleen Masusako, Jeorge Jordan, Morgan Weatherford
“Each typology is a character with unlimited dimensions.”