A Well-Paved Road

The Office of Good Intentions, Human(s) Work opens with a flash flood warning: “We are looking for work. We are finding it everywhere.” Authors Florian Idenburg and LeeAnn Suen go with the flow, channeling a torrent of research and riffing into galaxy-brain takes on the expanding nature of white-collar toil. Deadpan photography by Iwan Baan, appended to case studies of well-known office buildings and their cluttered interiors, offers voyeuristic relief from the welter of big ideas and bespoke paper stocks. This good-intentioned book feels very much like a product of the knowledge economy it seeks to codify, made by human(s) like you and me, who “entangle ourselves in intricate networks through abundant apps, further chopping our days up into half-baked actions and contingent commitments.” Relatable!