Sam Leach

About

Using the history of architecture painting, with particular reference to Dutch painting of the 17th century, I examine how the construction of atmosphere through light, space and surface has been used to respond to an ambiguous attitude towards the creation and accumulation of wealth.

Boardrooms, corporate foyers and office interiors have developed into instantly recognisable types of space with a particular atmosphere. These spaces are often open to the public, but the intention is for people to be impressed by the wealth and power of the occupants, an idea initially perfected in Ancient Rome. The impression of wealth and power created in these spaces is balanced against a need to demonstrate prudence and restraint – the corporations need to avoid creating an impression of extravagance or wastefulness

The illusory space in the church interiors of Saenredam and de Witte, with their sense of expansive space and light, are echoed in the real space of contemporary corporate foyers. The interiors of de Hooch and ter Borch as well as the still lifes of Heda and Claesz also provide useful source material for their representations of sparsely decorated but prosperous households, as well as the moralizing content related to the virtues of modesty and the transience of material life and wealth.

The sense of alienation and dehumanisation in emblematic corporate spaces, has been explored through the works of Thomas Demand, Hannah Starkey and Craig Kalpakjian . I am seeking to investigate visually how the design of contemporary corporate space seeks to simultaneously demonstrate wealth and reassure the public that the wealth is not associated with extravagance, decadence and corruption

"…the Dutch mind [was] adrift between the fear of the deluge and the hope of moral salvage, in the tidal ebb and flow between worldiness and homeliness, between the gratification of appetite and its denial, between the conditional consecration of wealth and perdition in its surfeit."

(Schama 1997)

The corrupting influence of wealth is an ancient theme, recurring through ancient Greek texts, Roman histories and biblical references: the devil makes work for idle hands. A perceived immorality of extravagance is readily apparent in Corporate architecture and design. It was also particularly apparent in the visual culture of 17th century Holland - the wealthiest society of the time and also a society and culture which in many ways closely resembles the current situation in liberal Western democracies.

Multinational corporations in the late 20th century have become the wealthiest entities in our society. Over the 20th century a consistent visual language has developed that can be labelled and recognised as 'corporate'. Embedded in that visual language is a treatment of the issue of wealth/waste – how to demonstrate the former without being charged with the latter.

The Netherlands in the 17th century was a society with a high level of wealth, driven in no small part by the activities of the world’s first multinational corporation – the Dutch East India Company (VOC). The art of the period frequently contains motifs referring to transience of material wealth and the sinfulness of excess. This provides an opportunity to compare how the treatment of this theme which emerges at moments of history where there is an ‘embarrassment of riches’ as Schama describes the 17thC Dutch economy’ can be applied to the treatment of similar concerns in corporate space today.

The buoyancy of the art market reflected the wealth of the period. This was a pre-industrial society and throw-away consumable goods were not able to be produced en-masse to create and sustain a level of demand. Instead a great deal of money was spent on more permanent consumer items including art. There are frequent references in painting to the transitory nature of man’s existence and the temporary status of material wealth - still life paintings were loaded with symbolic references to mortality, wealth and corruption: - skulls, bubbles, spoiling luxury food, paintings on the theme of miserliness and charity. In the reformist and Calvinist churches decorations and indicators of material wealth - the papist idolatry - were removed altogether, leaving the comparatively empty, white walled spaces epitomised by Saenredam's paintings.

This ambiguous attitude towards wealth is echoed in contemporary society. The most wealthy entities now are not individual merchants or traders but the multinational corporations who represent and (dis)embody their interests. Liberal Western democracies are dependent on these corporations and their continued growth is celebrated by political leaders and the popular press. However the wealth of the corporation is also a source of anxiety – a concern played out in films such as The Bank, Cipher, Robocop and various Bond movies. Wealth, and the single minded pursuit of wealth is seen as a corrupting and malign influence.

The fact that the modern model of the corporation – with directors and shareholders developed in 17th century Holland is significant – as in 17th century Dutch culture, it is still seen as somewhat immoral for an individual to accumulate wealth. A corporation is a convenient way to side step this issue since it is ‘disembodied’ and serves to distance the individual from the wealth.

The architecture of the 1950’s and 60’s was seen as a very positive embodiment of rapid modernisation and the capitalist realisation of the American Founding Fathers’ Puritan ideals of worth through work.

‘For their clients as well as for many observers, these “glass boxes,” as they were often called, symbolized a new era—one of technical and organizational supremacy in the world, of enlightened management, and of economic growth.’

(The Organizational Complex: Architecture, Media, and Corporate Space, Reinhold Martin.)

Corporate spaces are consciously designed to achieve the effect of enhancing the status of the corporation (especially spaces like corporate foyers). Some of the elements of corporate design have become standard: The features which make a space identifiable as ‘corporate’: the ubiquitous halogen down-lights in meeting rooms, brushed steel lift doors, polished beech boardroom tables and expanses of polished stone are now so common that they are virtually un-noticed.

I am investigating how the aesthetics of corporate space convey attitudes towards wealth and power using the conventions and principles of Dutch painting as a frame of reference. The theme of wealth, power and morality frequently recurred in Dutch art and the principles of accurately describing space, portraying things and so making them known can be usefully applied to the process of depicting corporate space.