With the change of administrations in Washington, this is good time for discussions of the silent messages sent by office spaces—a topic that’s not generally on the tips of any of our real, or conceptual, tongues.
The conversations about the changeovers from one president’s Oval Office décor to the next have focused on changes in art on view. The bust of Winston Churchill is gone from the Oval Office; for example, those of Cesar Chavez (crusader for farm workers’ rights), Rosa Parks, and Robert F. Kennedy are prominently displayed in Biden’s office. The painting of Andrew Jackson has been removed while an image of Franklin Roosevelt is now prominently placed above the fireplace. A painting of Benjamin Franklin on display signals Biden’s respect for science.
The painting of Franklin, conveying positive attitudes toward science, indicates one of the complexities of nonverbal communication—sometimes a little verbiage is required to clarify the message being sent. An explanation is also required for a moon rock that’s on display in Biden’s new office, it signals the US’s achievements, in space and otherwise, but without explanation a number of messages could be drawn from its presence.
Much of the furniture in place in the Oval Office seems to have remained the same, from one administration to the next—certainly the Resolute desk is still in use by the president himself. Other furnishings look roughly similar in images available, with one significant exception.
A large light-colored rug in use during the Trump administration has been replaced by one that is a deep blue. To Americans blue signals trustworthiness, credibility, and competence, which are no doubt desirable messages to send to the world at this time. Also, the blue rug will make people in the space feel more comfortable because it seems to be the darkest surface in the room. Humans feel best when the darkest surface in a space is under their feet, the lightest is over their heads, and intermediate shades cover the walls.
For an interesting set of images introducing the new “look” of the Oval Office, and useful explanatory text,, see this article in The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/20/biden-oval-office/
The Oval Office is not the only space that seems to be undergoing a symbolic makeover. Not content with simply posting photographs as backdrops during their Zoom, etc., calls, some people are buying actual books to place behind themselves during online conversations (“Virtual Meetings Spur Sales in Books for Backgrounds, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-55818287).
Perhaps most interesting of all, the article at the BBC web address noted in the last paragraph reports that “For those who prefer not to physically change their backdrops, the BBC has made available more than 100 empty sets from well-known TV shows such as Strictly, Dr. Who, Eastenders and “All ‘Allo! to use with apps that create virtual backgrounds. Imagine the possibilities!
Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.