Description

TBWA/Chiat/Day is one of the biggest advertising agencies on the West Coast; internationally renowned for its unconventional advertising campaigns it has made a name for itself as an agency that has an avant-garde approach to its own working environment.

At the beginning of the nineties, Jay Chiat, a co-founder of the firm, had already arrived at the conclusion that a progressive ambience could support innovative work and contribute to initiating the desired transformation in corporate culture. This was the background to the controversial design solutions he had implemented, like Frank O. Gehry’s “Binocular Building” in Venice – named after Claes Oldenburg’s pair of outsized binoculars at the entrance – and the branch office in New York designed by Gaetano Pesce. On one hand, through this strategy based on the fusion of architecture and “liberating technology,” Chiat initiated a renewal process essential for an advertising agency, but on the other, the global non-territorial office concept led to employee alienation. Its continually changing work scenarios did not take account of the naturally cooperative and communicative character of the advertising business.

The move into the firm’s new headquarters, an old warehouse in an industrial district of Playa del Rey, marks the newest stage in the company’s development. On a site of 11,150 m², Wilkinson realised a narrative concept that, subtly adjusted to the different types of work processes, seeks its references in urban design metaphors. The transition to the world of Chiat/Day emphasises a publicly accessible gatehouse-like exhibition and reception pavilion. Behind this unfolds a surprising high-contrast cityscape on several levels with green atriums, “landmarks” and neighbourhoods that are immediately recognisable. As Chiat/Day’s corporate portfolio is based on a few large projects, it was possible to introduce cross-functional project teams and translate this spatially into nest-like work areas around the “Project Den”.

The “Main Street,” to which are anchored the team areas, the conference and meeting rooms, the cafeteria and various service facilities, serves as the structuring element forming a centre. In addition to important elements promoting identity and communication – the company mascot, “Central Park,” the Surf Bar and the basketball court – this access axis also accommodates the so-called “cliff dwellings.” In this stack of industrial containers – which is an outstanding design element – is celebrated the real heart of the agency, the creative department with art directors and copywriters. The warehouse, lighted mainly from above, is conventionally air-conditioned.

With its new corporate headquarters, TBWA/Chiat/Day, an enterprise that has always implemented architecture and technology in a deliberate fashion, has created its own little city, one that invites its 540 employees to really live in it.

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Originally published in: Rainer Hascher, Simone Jeska, Birgit Klauck, Office Buildings: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2002.