How Severance Uses Architecture as Mind Control

I COULD NOT work in a building with no windows.

It would literally feel like a prison.

God this type of architecture is just straight up evil and diabolical. I always treated architecture as something to make things look nice and comforting to occupants and passerbys. But this is the exact opposite and the worst part is it has to be done ON PURPOSE. It's not even necessarily engineering efficiency. It is purely to be dehumanizing and mentally destroying.
I personally love window spots and I know most people do too. Purposely avoiding them is just evil. Like for what reason? Natural sunlight and nature is appealing to people. Why wouldn't you want better employee mental health? Like this type of building exist in real life as mentioned in the video. I just have to ask why...?

The pinwheel table is also evil. I prefer cubicles over open office designs as a introvert... But that pinwheel table is terrible. Not only are you blocked by a wall from talking to your neighbors, you also aren't isolated and given privacy because of the gap in the middle. And of course, they are completely exposed behind. It's ridiculous design that neither promote teamwork nor provide privacy. It's just there to destroy the person working there. This design is literal mental torture. I fail to see how such design will improve employee retention. It feels like it'll do the opposite.

I've spent a decent amount of time in the public space of this building. It does have a really nice atmosphere. The lack of windows facing the atrium on the office space is a very strange choice. They would get so much more light if they had them.

The parking lot is a hellacious place to be. It really makes the building unwelcoming.

And all that glass is single pane. 😬

I was anticipating this video from this channel. Great one. Can you make one about the game Control? I think it's very similar in architectural characteristics as Severance.

It is so interesting how corporate architects are constantly trying to make office spaces factory like,
Most factories have almost no natural light (just a side affect of what they are designed to do)

Man, turn off the music!

And why are you cutting to your face? I don't need to see you talking

I like to imagine the set designer watching this and saying "No, I just thought it would look cool."

Money (debt) is what is used to intimidate. Attachment is how people respond to this.

I can recommend the ‚Table if Power 2‘ as a coffee table book for anyone interested in boardrooms 🙂

“LYING DOWN ON A TABLE” not “laying down”

Also, I am just reading ‚the idea factory‘ where the building is mentioned

This is going to be one of those shows that requires a second viewing all the way through to truly appreciate all the details

I’d never even heard of this.

talking about shitty movies and by the name of your channel "firstname lastname"
this is paid propaganda.

Really speaks volumes about modern day capitalism...

This is pretty obvious when watching the show, isn't it? Are there really people that couldn't figure this out themselves?

As someone who hasn't seen or even heard of Severance the TV show, it's sometimes a bit confusing as to when you're talking about the show and when you're talking about real life.
Interesting video tho!

I love this show! It’s absolutely genius. Can’t wait for Season three 😎

saw rinen

Stewart, thank you so much for making this video—I was hoping you would, so this feels like a dream come true. I’m a huge fan of the show too, and it’s funny because I’ve spent my entire career in corporate America. I’ve worked in places that looked a lot like *Severance*, though not quite as dystopian. The kicker? Back in the ’90s, I worked at a company where the manager invented a workstation similar to the ones in the show. He called them 'mind turbines,' designed to help small teams collaborate—long before video conferencing even existed.

There are some other things I've noticed as well. The Bell Labs water tower in Severance has a very War of the Worlds look to it with its keystone logo, reminiscent of the monsters in that movie. Also the lobby of Bell Labs in Severance has a stone bas relief of Kier which is extremely reminiscent of Soviet statues of Lenin.

How many of you out there experienced PTSD watching this video?

This was an interesting video! Your analysis reminded me of the Epic headquarters outside Madison, WI. I took the tour and the whole place felt dystopian, empty, controlling, even patronizing. I would love to see you do a video on it sometime

Your auto translated video title in Portuguese is so wrong....

So cool! I love the show and esp the production design and use of architecture, and the extremely intentional way it's shot. Lovely to hear your analysis as an architect :)

Funny about the intentionally windowless design -- it reminds me so much of many labs in universities being built in basements, encouraging the penniless PhD students to work until all hours of the night, no distractions. The first time I saw a lab in a high rise I was momentarily speechless. My mind refused to process the physical possibility of lasers and photonic detectors on the 29th floor, the expanse of Toronto urban sprawl visible through bulk optics over the hum of a dilution refrigerator.

I could listen to you talk about Severance production design and architecture all day :]

PLEASE cover severance more with the subtle references etc. scattered about the series. I'd LOVE to hear your analysis on it.

Having been in a few former Bell Labs buildings, I actually find them pretty nice, especially compared to the more featureless current style, even if today’s office buildings include lots more windows. These buildings do have a truly unique style. And if you are familiar with the technical work done at Bell Labs, that would also color your perception. For example, when I learned the odd water tower in the Holmdel building was inspired by the transistor (invented at Bell Labs) it became a lot less sinister.

Oblique Foucault reference for the win.

Random comments: I’m watching this while I ride my recumbent bike…outside…because I’m immersed in an Apple Vision Pro. We once took a bad 2400 foot 9 track mag tape and rolled it down the corridor at Northwestern University’s Technological Institute and let all the tape play out…the hallways were that long.

air at the top would be the most stale.

I can't believe that the guy who designed the old TWA terminal at JFK (which I used to love to spend time in) also came up with that Bell Labs box in New Jersey.

This Stewart guy is so adorable and cool. He explains things very well

I think what rubs me the wrong way about your videos is the tendency to phrase subjective concepts in a way that feels definitive. You describe the abstract experience of things, like tracking backwards through the hallways, in rather concrete terms. You tend to state that something makes us feel a specific thing, when it’s more appropriate to say it “can” or “might” or “tends to” make people feel something similar t that specific thing. I think you’re being too concrete and specific about an abstract concept. Because, while there is a specific technique or shape or effect being used, the response of the audience is going to much less specific. Like how the same boardroom evoke different emotions in people based on their personal experience.

Now I get why I couldn’t make it through the first episode!

It's good content - but it feels like you should have two separate channels. I enjoy your deep dives on the technicalities of architecture, which I understand caters to a much smaller audience. These videos, are like the ones Dami is putting out, which I have very little interest in.

Wow

Please more about Severance. I wasn't interested until now.

Please introduce "Severance" from the start. What is it? What are you talking about?

I think a lot of architects don't think their ideas or creations through enough. Would some forethought and engineering understanding hurt them? 🤦‍♂

In the 90's I worked for a brokerage firm in which only Directors and above were allowed to have a window. Whenever a Manager was moved into an office that was previously occupied by a Director - the facilities department was ordered to install a temporary wall in front of the window. Those walls were covered in fabric, to mimic the look of a cube wall. This company had 100's of offices around the country, and spent millions of $$ to make sure everyone knew their place.

I especially liked this video because it reveals many of the layers that Architects consider that the general public never are aware of. The profound ways that the built environment affect a person while still remaining just below their perception is something that good Architects not only are aware of, but also utilize to make the psychology of a space into what it needs to be to fit the program and function. In this case a dystopian office environment for a TV series.

I never hear mentions of Flatland. A great short read

The script of this video seems really disparate and strange, with connections between points that make no sense. Some subjects brought up are irrelevant and go nowhere. Is the script AI? The writing and pacing sounds almost manic. Is he ok?

The conference room (or board room, as you put it,) was reminiscent of The Matrix to me, with lots of green. The Oracle also tells Neo he'll feel "right as rain."