When it’s snowing and everything is white, it looks like an Alaskan weather station,” said Chris Lange of his office building on Garfield Avenue South in Minneapolis. Even in balmier weather, the headquarters of Mono, the two-year-old advertising agency co-founded by Lange, is striking enough that people will stop in “at least once a week” to ask about it. Perhaps they’re drawn to the combination of simplicity and shine; the building, erected as a storage shed for a roofing company in the fifties, is clad in corrugated, galvanized steel, which gives it a forbidding look. Then there’s the imposing chain-link and razor-wire fence, which once protected a fleet of heavy machinery and now lends additional mystery.
While the building’s exterior has a certain austere allure, the only office-friendly elements inside (which is basically one sprawling, oblong room) were the hardwood floors and boxy windows installed by the landlord. So two years ago, when Lange and company trucked in mod furniture for their newly established agency, they aimed to warm things up a bit with a palette of soft silvers and whites, and occasional flares of international orange.
With furniture and accessories from Blu Dot and Knoll, it’s clear that Mono wasn’t confined to the modest design budget of most fledgling agencies; indeed, its trio of founders had been heavy hitters at Carmichael Lynch and Fallon. A few signature pieces, like the giant, blown-glass light fixture hanging in the conference room, were commissioned. “Our space and philosophy were very deliberately thought out,” said Lange. “We wanted to make our work space efficient, clean, and open.” Hard-pressed to find cubicles to meet those standards, Lange invested in clusters of A3 “pods,” a sexy line of workstations designed by Knoll—he says he believes Mono is the only business in the Twin Cities to have them. Covered in translucent mesh fabric, the egg-shaped pods are somewhat cradle-like, sparing inhabitants the feeling of being penned-in drones. Together, the sixteen of them give the impression of huddles of giant penguins. Said Lange, “People come in here and think aliens landed.”—Christy DeSmith
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