Apparently designed with the ship from Ridley Scott’s “Alien” in mind, the office space in Severance is austere, minimalist, and feels a bit sleepy – almost like the employees are in a stasis field, waiting to wake up. It’s not just the decor that evokes a mood, it’s the use of space. Looking at the Macrodata Refinement department you can see that the desks are in cubicle form, bunched up in the center of a large room. There’s not a lot of other furniture in the space, a copy machine is all I can recall at the moment. This environment, along with the story that is being told, gives us feelings of restraint, confinement, simplicity. The “innies” are constrained by their higher-ups, their entire world is the Macrodata Refinement room. Their minds are simple, like children, because they have no memory of life experiences other than the minimal hours they have spent alive at their work building. They read no books, watch no movies, hear no opinions other than what the office wants them to hear. They have no distractions in their environment. They are clean slates.
I love the way the design of the show reflects all of this. The simplicity feels quite stylized and it is a delight for the eyes. It’s also has a very “Mad Men” retro 60’s look, which is one of my favourite design eras. The furniture alone! It’s gorgeous.
The muted monochromatic colour scheme feels contemporary, sleek, efficient, professional and simple. The innies don’t get a lot of varied visual stimulation!
