What do you listen to while you work?
It really ranges based on the type of work I’m doing and what phase of the project I’m working on. If it’s something that requires more thought, like preparing a lecture for the class I teach or working through a concept, I find lyrics distracting, so I listen to something that can fall to the background like Yann Tiersen or Stereolab.

If I’m in the production mode of a project I need something more upbeat to keep me going, Of Montreal, The Go! Team, and New Order all get the job done.

How do you listen?
My office has an open floor plan which requires the use of headphones. I just purchased a second pair of Sony MDR-7506’s after my first gave out after 10 years of dedicated and reliable service.

At home I have several speaker hook-ups throughout my apartment and I plug my iPod Touch in directly.

Another thing I’ve noticed about how I listen is that I tend to get stuck on a song and listen to it on repeat at least 10 times a day. Two recent examples of that have been New Order’s “Age of Consent” and Edward Sharpe’s “Home.”

My office is above the Fillmore Theater in Detroit, which tangentially influences my work. Occasionally I listen to the rumbles of bands warming up downstairs. I love watching the vast range of people waiting in line for the doors to open. This week it’s kids and parents to see “Sesame on Broadway”; last week it was Marilyn Manson fans.

Do you have any favorite music websites/providers?
Pandora.

Does music influence your work?
Yes! I often get caught up in the lyrics to songs. A few years ago I incorporated The Pixies and David Bowie lyrics into a series of valentines I printed and mailed to friends (photo below).

This past summer I was asked to create wedding invites for two friends who are avid music lovers. We ended up going with a gig poster format and had them screen printed at a local shop (above).

Where do you find music recommendations? Who influences your musical taste?
Most of my music recommendations come from friends. There was a point in my life where I was better at following music, but lately, that time has been spent prepping for class and reading about design. Lucky for me my friends have good taste.

What song or artist best represents the work you create?
This is a tough question! I would say lcd soundsystem. James Murphy’s music is upbeat, but the themes he explores are serious at times. His music is influenced by the great artists that came before him, but he’s able to build off of that to create something new.

Ideal place to sit and listen to your playlist:
The Eames Molded Plastic Armchair with Rocker Base in Aqua Sky. It’s the perfect spot to relax after a day of work — you can rock back and forth to the beat with a glass of Belgian beer in hand and a cat on your lap.

Colleen’s Playlist:
1. Care of Cell 44, The Zombies
2. Age of Consent, New Order
3. Cut Your Hair, Pavement
4. The Party’s Crashing Us, Of Montreal
5. Holland 1945, Neutral Milk Hotel
6. All My Friends, lcd soundsystem
7. Small Stakes, Spoon
8. Home, Edward Sharpe
9. 7/4 (Shoreline), Broken Social Scene
10. Amsterdam, Peter Bjorn and John
11. Center of Gravity, Yo La Tengo

Photos: Colleen Hill

Painting (over couch) by Stephanie Buer.

Each hybrid synthesizes essential traits from two “parents” of differing typologies; for example, a set of bookshelves combined with the stepped form of an arena results in the book-arena, which doubly functions as storage and seating for office-wide meetings. Other hybrids include the tree-chair, mountain-offices, house-table, and sky-cave …. This conceptual intertwining of interior office and exterior world expands the experiential possibilities of inhabitation. To sit in a chair as if inside a tree, or occupy a table as one would a house, is to prompt a rethinking of how we exist with objects and environments. One’s fundamental notions of dwelling and working are consequently upended, yet simultaneously clarified.

This larger idea of merging solutions within the office space has already won Ogosta the AIA Los Angeles Next LA Honor Award 2012 as well as recognition in several publications. But the details also got our attention: the project’s light, airy setting incorporates several designs by Charles and Ray Eames, such as Eames Aluminum Group Management Chairs, Eames Molded Plastic Chairs, and Eames Molded Plastic Armchairs with Rocker Bases — all in white. We asked Ogosta why he selected these styles and color. “It was important that the seating be compatible with the limited palette of wood and white materials for the project,” he stated. “The various Eames chairs seemed to complement the project’s furniture hybrid-objects, as they have a simplicity which does not distract from the overall space.”

Also considered? Charles and Ray’s California connection. Explained Ogosta, “The project also aims to internalize and clarify the surrounding areas of Los Angeles — its natural forms, its urban character, and its cultural openness — so including Eames chairs seemed appropriate given that they are indigenous creations of Southern California.”

See more of Hybrid Office here and at edwardogosta.com.

Images: edwardogosta.com

What do you listen to while you work?
Just about any genre except “commercial pop” – world music, electronica, jazz through bluegrass and soul. It’s important for me to have a very eclectic mix of music, it somehow makes me feel at home in NYC maybe because it reflects the diversity of the city. It also keeps me from getting bored.

How do you listen?
I have a Bose speaker system hooked up to my desktop computer where all my music is stored. I have the studio to myself a lot so I can play the music loud without bothering anyone else which is useful…sometimes music just needs to be blasted, it helps get me motivated.

Do you have any favorite music websites/providers?
When I’m not sure what I feel like listening to I pretty much always go to Radio Paradise, they have a fantastic eclectic mix. For jazz I listen to WBGO out of Newark NJ and WFUV out of Fordham University for alternative and local artists. And John Schaffer’s Soundcheck always exposes me to something unusual. I do Pandora on occasion and am just starting to use Spotify. I buy music from Amazon and iTunes.

Does music influence your work?
When I am working on a project to showcase a musical artist, I’ll listen to that artist a lot to help me get the right feel. For the 92nd Street Y’s tribute to Burt Bacharach I must have listened to Steve Tyrell’s Back To Bacharach 50 times that week.

For other projects, like creating pieces to showcase the children of the 52nd Street Project, the music I listen to can take me in all sorts of unique directions. I created some surreal plant illustrations (above) while listening to a lot of K.D. Lang and Dusty Springfield. Go figure!

Where do you find music recommendations? Who influences your musical taste?
Designers I collaborate with have turned me on to a lot. My summer intern has incredible taste and she exposed me to many artists that are becoming new favorites. My 13-year-old son has very sophisticated taste and he’s always on the prowl for new tunes, so he’s introduced me to some gems. My husband provided me with an amazing base of jazz standards, classical, R&B, and punk.

We also have friends who are musicians and artists and they’re always excited to share what they are into. And a huge influence is my client Celebrate Brooklyn!, a summer-long, very eclectic music festival that literally reflects the diversity of that borough. There’s always artists I don’t know in their line-up and I’m always prepared to be blown away.

What song or artist best represents the work you create?
Impossible! It would have to be upbeat because my work exudes a certain positivity, and quirky because I couldn’t tolerate just one style of music to define my work. It needs to be colorful, joyful, engaging… maybe Blackbird by The Beatles? Love You Madly by Cake? Roman Blue from “Rome” by Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi? David Bowie’s Oh! You Pretty Things? How can I choose just one?

Ideal place to sit and listen to your playlist:
The Eames Molded Plastic Armchair with Rocker Base in Aqua Sky, if possible in a room with a fabulous view.

Iris’s Playlist:
1. Theme of ”Rome,” Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi
2. Anonanimal, Andrew Bird
3. Frank Sinatra, Cake
4. Bullet and a Target, Citizen Cope
5. Vaporize, Broken Bells
6. Paradise, Coldplay
7. Indra, Thievery Corporation
8. Believe, Ozomatli
9. Dum Maro Dum (Take Another Toke), Kronos Quartet
10. Batonga, Angélique Kidjo
11. 100 Days, 100 Nights, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
12. Cool Jerk, The Capitols

Photos: Iris Brown

What do you listen to while you work?
I love listening to Johnny Cash when I work, from the Sam Phillips-produced Folsom Prison Blues to Rick Rubin’s American Recordings.

How do you listen?
If I’m collaborating or sharing space with another designer, I’ll use headphones. If I’m working solo in my studio, I typically stream through the cloud to my phone, computer, or television.

Do you have any favorite music websites/providers?
I’m listening to The Pixies right now through Pandora as I’m doing this interview. I’ll usually connect to a station of one of my favorite artists and then let it stream.

Does music influence your work?
Most definitely. One of the first clients in my career was the STAX, the record label Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, and Booker T and the MGs made famous. The firm I was working for in Memphis – LRK – won a project to recreate the original STAX recording studio as a museum and design a new STAX Music Academy. I designed the environmental graphics and signage, which were very much influenced by STAX music and the music culture. I was probably a little spoiled early in my career getting to work on such a fun project.

Where do you find music recommendations? Who influences your musical taste?
Having lived in Memphis, Detroit, and Chicago over the past 15 years, I’d have to say that my musical taste is highly influenced by the area I’m living in. I keep a very open mind about styles of music, and love sampling new artists.

What song or artist best represents the work you create?
I really admire Andrew Bird’s live performances. They’re a wild mixture of process and execution.

Ideal place to sit and listen to your playlist:
Without a doubt a light blue Eames Molded Armchair with Rocker Base is the best place to listen to my playlist. Being a rocker it gives you a nice little warm up before your are compelled to jump up and start dancing. Plus, it provides the perfect amount of comfort for taking a break. Those Eameses were two clever designers.

Kyle’s Playlist:
1. Folsom Prison Blues, Johnny Cash
2. Hands of a Working Man, Big Ass Truck
3. Shake ‘Em on Down, North Mississippi Allstars
4. Mercy Mercy Me, Marvin Gaye
5. The Naming of Things, Andrew Bird
6. Dead Millionaire, Beverly Fre$h
7. Seven Nation Army, The White Stripes
8. Chicago, Sufjan Stevens
9. God’s Gonna Cut You Down, Johnny Cash
10. Train from Kansas City, Neko Case

Photos: J.Kyle Daevel, except “Detroit Numbers” (top), by Travis Roozee

1. Mashable’s 10 Tips for a More Beautiful and Functional Home Office.

2. The surprising predictions from the 1985 AP article “The Office of the Future” at Office Snapshots.

3. This insightful interview at Mr. Porter with Jason Cohn, writer and co-director of Eames: The Architect and the Painter.

4. “The home office that changed our lives” at Homes & Property.

5. House R by architect Sharon Neuaman on Architzer. (We like its Eames Lounge and Eames Molded Plastic Armchair with Rocker Base combo.)

6. Yves Béhar’s keynote speech on why designers should love the design process via Trendhunter.

7. This peek at graphic designer Codi Goodis’ SAYL Chair (designed by Yves Béhar himself) at Design Milk.

8. These magical desk objects by Max Phillips at MoCo Loco.

9. Intralld’s feature on a colorful, smile-inducing public art exhibition in Portugal.

10. “The Joy of the Home Office” at The Telegraph.

Photo: Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman

What do you listen to while you work? It depends on what type of job we are working on. Normally we start our day with some creative works (like ideation); very calm, peaceful classic piano or violin will fit the scene very well. Then we might encounter some prototyping or technical works which requires more hand than brain. We would then choose more energetic tones like Trance or New Age (Jamiroquai is awesome). Occasionally, we’ll mix in some very nice vocals like Dido and Enya.

How do you listen? We will play the music through our Harman/Kardon Soundsticks II, which connect to the laptop.

Do you have any favorite music websites/providers? iTunes is simply convenient enough.

Does music influence your work? It definitely does. But not in a direct way. When we are start a new project, we flip through books and images and soak ourselves completely in the music we like. It’s almost like a secret place where all the amazing inspirations came from.

Where do you find music recommendations? Who influences your musical taste? I [Yoo-kyung Shin] have a very close friend who knows a lot about music; she influences my musical tastes a lot. Hanhsi’s father also has a really amazing collection of classical CDs. We are by no means the expert that he is, but that’s where all our classical music comes from.

What song or artist best represents the work you create? Clint Mansell.

Ideal place to sit and listen to your playlist: An Eames Molded Plastic Armchair with Rocker Base. It is simply amazing: conforms to your back comfortably, rocking gently back and forth. It’s like a sweet dream.

LOGICAL ART’S PLAYLIST – Logical Art tag-teamed their playlist. The first five songs are from Yoo-kyung, and the last six are from Hahnsi:

1. Lady, Modjo
2. Virtual Insanity, Jamiroquai
3. Something About Us, Daft Punk
4. Think About’Chu, Asoto Union
5. U Remind Me, Usher
6. Holding On To Nothing, Agnelli & Nelson
7. Crazy, Alanis Morissette
8. Ghost of a Rose, Blackmore’s Night
9. Sand In My Shoes, Dido
10. First Movement, Clint Mansell
11. Summer Palace, Peyman Yazdanian

Photos: Logical Art