creative spaces

I'm fascinated by which environments make for creativity and ideas, especially for 'business creativity'. Everywhere I've worked has been in the business of having creative ideas, but the spaces have been very different.

This lens is intended to be a round-up of my explorations of this stuff.

thoughts

the things that occur to me while putting this together

One of the themes that emerged from discussion on the blog is this:

A good place for ideas surrounds you with interesting stimulus, but also gives you the opportunity to be completely free of stimulus.

Which is a tricky brief for a designer.

But which echoes thinking here about the ideas process. The need for an inspiration phase - about being receptive to new thoughts, and an elaboration phase - where you focus on what you're trying to do and want to shut out distractions.

web stuff

personal creative environment: overview from the innovation network.
spaces for creative expression: very thoughtful and interesting little blog post about the disappearance of spaces for creative expression - album covers are already almost gone. Will book covers go soon too?
thinking applied: scroll down to read about "the setting in which one is most creative"
pixar: a tour of pixar's fantastic offices
wifi bedouin: A great creative environment doesn't have to involve fussball and a masseur. Infact normally that means death to creativity. The alternative could be to go bedouin.
creative spaces category: The creative spaces category on my blog. The interesting stuff is all in the comments.
where you work: Fascinating series of photos from the YCN blog - people's own shots of their workspaces.
artists in residence: Kind of tangental this, but still important and interesting. This is a New York Times slideshow about a curator who invites artists to create art in his home. It illustrates how a little imagination can make you look at your environment differently, creatively. And perhaps, how it can reward that attention
lifehacker's coolest workspace contest: No more explanation needed really.
work where you work best: A great round-up of the unusual places where great work/thinking has been done.
flickr group - creative spaces / creative places: a flickr group with fascinating and inspiring pictures
on my desk: creative folk share the stuff on their desks
dance and space: Brilliant New York Times slideshow and commentary on how knowledge of dance has been used to influence David Rockwell's architecture.
Influencing Behaviour Through Office Design: Clicking on the link above will get you a pdf of a paper by Ed Reilly about how office design indfluences how people behave. Fascinating stuff.
creating a work space that promotes a brand: A feature on Fahrenheit 212 offices from the New York Times.
10 seriously cool workplaces: The Chief Happiness Officer with a round-up of tremendous workplaces
Kathy's Airstream: One of the featured workspaces above is Kathy Sierra's marvelous Airstream. This post tells you more.
ipods are killing creativity: Something from the Creative Review blog about how ipods are destroying the interaction and conversation in design offices - an aspect of the creative space I guess.
the perfectly designed office: Excellent thoughts from Leland.
a creative space like The Office might imagine: A youtube video of the perfect Office cliche of a creative environment
creative spaces for tunes: thoughts about music studio spaces from zero influence
Fast Company on office space: Fast Company makes the point that environment is going to be increasingly important as the shortage of 'knowledge workers' bites.