Describing+Places,+To+Make+an+Analytic+Point

When I visited the offices of 1st Playable I did not really know what to expect. When thinking about design studios focusing on digital technologies, I almost invariably think back to Google's idiosincratic spatial arrangement at the Googleplex where walls are shunned and personalization rules. However, despite the idealization of this arrangement in the popular imaginary of technology workers, I cannot but think that such situations are the exception and that I will encounter a work space that more closely resembles that of a corporate office. These were the thoughts running through my mind as I entered the building within which 1st Playable has its offices. What I found was neither of these popular representations.

1st Playable shares its building with several other companies. When I entered the main doors, I was greeted by an expansive – and noticeably bare – lobby. On my right were some offices, ahead of me was an elevator and more offices, while the second floor sported an open balcony where yet more offices are located. However, I could not see any sign of 1st Playable. After a quick look around, I managed to find a directory that informed me that the offices I was looking for were situated on the second floor. Equipped with this knowledge, I stepped into the elevator, pressed the right button to go up a level. When the elevator stopped and the doors opened, I found myself in Narnia.

Like the children in C.S. Lewis' classic novels, I found myself immediately transported into another world as soon as I exited the wardrobe, or the elevator in my situation. The elevator does not bring you to a corridor that needs to be traveled in order to reach a door marked '1st Playable.' Rather, the elevator opens up into the offices themselves. Whether I was at the back or the front of the offices is difficult to say because there were no familiar markers by which one can identify any kind of orientation. There is no reception desk where an administrative assistant can help you, nor are there any corridors to be traveled or doors to be entered. It is as if one simply ceases to be //there,// in the bare lobby on the building's first floor, in order to be //here//, directly into the work space where 1st Playable's employees are toiling away with the only transition being a short elevator ride.

One reason that the experience was so disorienting is that when the elevator doors open, I was immediately greeted by an apparently chaotic cacophony of people, noise and wires. This created a sharp contrast to the stark emptiness of the elevator, lobby and also, the streets of Troy in the middle of a July afternoon. In front of me were narrow alleys going from the left side to the right single of a single large room. Each alley was deliniated by desks that were themselves positioned against removable walls so that anyone walking through the alleys finds himself or herself in a trench surrounded by people, plastic, and paper. The ceiling itself was quite remarkable, being composed of a low hanging rack where all of 1st Playable's electrical and network wiring was stored.

I was accosted by an employee who did not seem surprised at my short moment of confusion. I told him that I was looking for David – my interlocutor who had originally invited me to visit the studio – and was directed towards the middle of the room. I found David at his desk. David's desk was typical of the ones surrounding it: every inch of space was occupied by documents, books or toys. David greeted me in a very friendly manner and told me that this was a very auspicious time for a visit because his computer currently was undergoing a virus scan and he therefore had plenty of time to show me around. We then proceeded to the back – or is it the front? I still am unsure – of the room to begin the tour. I have already described the main room composing the offices of 1st Playable. However, as Daivd and I walked around, the layout began making sense to me. One philosophy espoused by the CEO of the company is that informal feedback between team members should be easily accessible and deliverable. As such, the layout of the desks allow people to communicate easily and quickly without disturbing work flow. Someone could easily lean back and ask a collegue for their thoughts on one's latest piece of work. The apparent chaos was not as chaotic as it appeared.

Besides the main room, my tour with David also revealed several other distinct areas that were nonetheless clearly part of the room itself. First was the administrative section where the CEO's desk was located. I did not manage to get a good look at the layout of this area, but I did notice the absence of a door. In a strange twist on corporate practices, the CEO's office was the closest thing to a cubicle in the entire place. Flanking the CEO's office were two other areas. To the right was a seating space with comfortable couches as well as displays of 1st Playable's games. David explained that this was more or less a waiting room where potential clients could spend their time comfortably while waiting for a meeting. To the left of the CEO's office was a rather dark space populated by three or four employees hard at work. David informed me that this was the space where the coders worked. When I asked why it was separate from the rest of the work space, he replied that the kind of work they did was different and that it was more efficient to have them centralized in a single area.

The next leg of the visit brought me across the room to the left side – or is it the right? I still am unsure – of the offices where I saw the only two doors I would see in 1st Playable's offices. Behind the first door was the conference room. Layed out along more traditional corporate lines, it sported a small oblong table, comfortable chairs, a projector and screen, and a unit to make conference calls. However, one element of the room was definitely not corporate. Resting in the middle of the table next to the conference call unit were some LEGO building blocks. David pointed at them immediately, probably aware of the contrast they created, and said: “If you're on the other end of a conference call with us we're probably playing with those over here.” When I asked why, he responded that informal moments of play were encouraged in order to stimulate creativity.

The room behind the second door also reflected this particular philosophy. This particular room was the play testing room where children are able to come and play the games being designed. The room itself is composed of large comfortable cushions to sit on as well as a large monitor and game consoles. Opposite to this setup is an old-style arcade game cabinet. When I asked about it, David replied that it was programmed with roughly 15,000 different old arcade games and that, if the room was not in use, anyone needing a short break could wander in and play briefly before going back to work.