State of the art offices

the scents often pumped around stores cause 
a change in the mood of the entirely unsuspecting customers, and as a result they shop longer – Or so fragrance marketing firms claim. Could art in office buildings exert a similar subliminal pull as such sweet smells?

Mladen Petrov

Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, better known as Diego Rivera, is the famous Mexican painter, graphic artist, architect, activist of the communist movement and husband of Frida Kahlo. Nowadays, we would say using the language of real estate that Diego Rivera became a sort of subcontractor in 1933. In this year, American billionaire Rockefeller commissioned him to paint a mural for the Rockefeller Center in New York. The work completely absorbed the painter, clearly unperturbed by the irony involved in being a well-known communist employed by one of capitalism’s most prominent flag-bearers. For Diego it was a unique opportunity to access – and at the same time provoke – the American public. However, when the American magnate noticed an image of Lenin in the finished mural, the work was destroyed. And thus the artist’s brief love affair with the New York office sector came to an end.

Filling a void

Nowadays there is nothing provocative about office buildings. There is no art either, unless we consider architecture to be a kind of surrogate for it. The buildings themselves can sometimes be a form of art (depending on the quality of design). However, there have been attempts to introduce art into office buildings, e.g. by holding exhibitions in them. Unfortunately, when the exhibitions have finished, the paintings, sculptures and photos displayed leave the world of business – usually never to return. One such example is Warsaw’s Yours Gallery. In 2003, when the Norman Foster-designed Metropolitan building in Warsaw came into use, the tenants included the gallery. A prestigious location, a world-famous architect, eminent photographers... everything was in the gallery’s favour. However, Yours Gallery eventually bid farewell to the Metropolitan and moved to a new, more traditional address – the Krakowskie Przedmieście boulevard. Why the need to move house? “The gallery required a bigger footfall. A gallery’s main function is to promote art, but it has to make a profit, too. People in office buildings think about business, while art remains in the background. Office buildings are empty at weekends and art needs contact with people,” explains Anna Kwiatkowska of Cushman & Wakefield, who was involved in the commercialization process of this building. “A tenant such as an auction house or a gallery adds prestige to a building, but these institutions are very sensitive to the economic situation, and so property owners prefer to have financial institutions on the ground floor as they can usually be relied upon to make profits every month.”

Art is not easy to spot in office buildings, and not only in the form of galleries and other similar tenants. Walls in the common areas, such as the foyer, often remain empty. Why? According to agents, if the foyer of a building resembles an art gallery it can put off potential tenants. The costs are another reason – both those connected with the purchase of a work of art and the maintenance of the common area. Expensive paintings also need to be monitored. Another issue which comes up when exhibitions are organized is the organization of human traffic, so that the building can function without any disruption when it receives a large number of visitors at one time. “Of course, if the administrator of the building notices that there is some space which could be decorated, as a result of which the attractiveness of common area could be heightened, art will be one of his or her obvious choices. Whether the owner of the building goes to an art gallery is another matter. They usually prefer to invest in small-scale architecture because it is more visible. A tenant is unlikely to agree to pay a higher rent just because there is a painting by a famous artist hanging in the foyer. The need for a big foyer is another issue: is one worth designing and extending it if it does not bring in any income?” wonders Iwona Laszkiewicz, property and asset management director at King Sturge. The company currently administers 19 office buildings in Poland. “Tenants are spending less and less time in common areas, and for this reason there are fewer and fewer such places in office buildings as they generate additional costs.”

  Will developers continue reducing common areas in order to save money? “It happens sometimes that a design includes some dominating feature, a focus point, which is significant for the whole composition and in such a case it can be assumed that a work of art will be displayed somewhere there. Provided there is good cooperation between the architect and the client, the architect remains a kind of consultant, who advises on aesthetic solutions even if the project is not an A (the concept) to Z (the interior) type of commission,” explains Tomasz Niedzielski, an architect with the Warsaw architectural studio Chapman Taylor. “Unfortunately, in Poland we will have to wait for some growth in the art market in business locations. So far, art in office buildings is only one factor behind their prestige and still has no influence on the value of the property,” adds Anna Kwiatkowska.

Refined buildings

On the other side of the debate, the art market has something else to say. The visitors to Juliusz Windborski’s office, president of the management board of Desa Unicum, a company which owns an auction house and five galleries, include developers, with one of the most frequent being Marek Roefler, president of the management board of Dantex and a famous collector. He began investing in works of art 20 years ago and has been building a collection on behalf of Dantex for the last ten years. There is certainly no lack of art in the company’s premises or in the president’s office, where you can find 13 paintings and four sculptures. “There are a number of ways in which art can be perceived. It is a good investment for those who are patient, but it also improves the image of a project. In spite of that, the popularity of art in public places is not significant. Besides, in our designs, which are prepared for specific tenants, we do not have a great deal of influence on the layouts of the common areas,” relates Marek Roefler.

There are also paintings to be found in buildings developed by Skanska and Karimpol. Echo Investment is currently preparing an artistic concept for its Park Postępu development in Warsaw’s Mokotów district; the same is true in the case of Europolis, which is negotiating with a number of artists with regard to properties administered by the company. “Buying works of art for office buildings is not a popular trend nowadays, but this is starting to change. Developers can see that the quality of space can be improved and refined at a relatively low price. In top class buildings this should not just be about the architecture and the choice of suitable materials,” argues Juliusz Windorbski. Desa Unicum has been collecting in different areas, from well-known, popular names, to young Polish artists. In the company’s galleries you can also buy prints by Edward Dwurnik, Rafał Olbiński and Tadeusz Dominik. The prints are produced in limited collectors’ editions (up to 100 pieces per edition), with the author’s approval and supervision. In addition, each of them has a unique serial number. Prices start at PLN 500. “This is only one of many examples of how much can be achieved for so little. Purchasing a work of art can be but does not have to be expensive,” comments Juliusz Windorbski. “Communing with art can start with something like lithography. This gives you a taste of real art before it is time to buy real paintings. Our society has been slowly evolving in this respect,” adds Marek Roefler.

Borrowed beauty, leased walls

It is also possible to lease art. BRE Bank has opted for this solution for its private banking department. Every quarter the collection is changed after consulting with Desa Unicum. Recently, the group of tenants interested in art has also been joined by the Xellion consulting company. “We have received feedback revealing the positive reactions of our clients,” argues Juliusz Windorbski. Iwona Laszkiewicz of King Sturge is thinking along the same lines: “Taking into consideration the current trend to limit common areas, one question remains: how can tenants be convinced into decorating their offices? It is a mistake to blame the administrator for a lack of artworks in a building. On the contrary, it is not uncommon for the administrator to pay for an exhibition. You can make money from renting out the walls, but in practice it’s different: we allow access to our walls for free.”

“A client can commission an architect to prepare an interior design, the elements of which might include genuine works of art – but, unfortunately, does not have to. There are few architects in the world who can afford to set their own terms at the beginning and treat the building as a whole. Not everyone is so fortunate, and it is often the case that the interior design is the work of a completely different person,” claims Tomasz Niedzielski of Chapman Taylor. Juliusz Windorbski warns against this solution. “It is worth talking, being selective and trusting the experts when it comes to the choice of works of art. A designer is not always familiar with the world of art and it can have the opposite effect,” he emphasizes. 
                Barbara Kowalczyk, a painter who specializes in corporate art, points out that being new facilities, office buildings need an individual approach. It sometimes happens that a developer puts its money on a famous name or will buy anything to avoid having empty walls. However, such works of art do not always reflect the atmosphere of the place, and Ms Kowalczyk has not seen any recent change in developers’ approach to art. “This is an individual matter, independent of any trends. A developer that appreciates art will think about art on its own initiative.” Marek Roefler adds that “there will not be a shopping spree from developers. Private people do collect works of art, but firms do so much more rarely.”

Anyone can take advantage of promoting the art, buying it or organizing an exhibition. The administrator should appreciate such an opportunity to advertise the building. and artists might unexpectedly gain new clients. Office buildings, which are usually regarded as soulless work places, could be reborn. Employees would certainly appreciate the atmosphere of the buildings. And Diego Rivera might also have been impressed.  ν