Last year when we visited Copenhagen to see architecture marvels of Bjarke Ingels (Nandini's favourite architect), I got a bit interested in unconventional yet supremely functional architecture. I came across Frank Gehry's work as well… especially his sketches.

After watching sketches of Frank Gehry, I realised how his workspace was like a playground. Full of materials, sketches, papers all around, models to mess with. It wasn't meant to make you sit behind a desk but rather made you feel like experimenting and test new ideas quickly.

IDEO, the design firm, encourages open spaces, movable whiteboards, and materials accessible all the time. IDEO’s offices had portable whiteboards on wheels, enabling teams to brainstorm anywhere. A movable workspace! How cool is that?

Yves Béhar from Fuseproject who designed for Yale, August, Coway, Tile, Jawbone and many more designed his studio to nurture innovation, much like Frank Gehry. His workspace is a mix of screens, physical models, and natural light!

For my personal workspace, I took a lot of inspiration from Stephen Wolfram's (creator of Mathematica, Wolfram Alpha and Wolfram language) productive desk setup. Here's some documentation on how we went about designing Urban Company's Bengaluru office.

Additionally, these books I referred to (mostly excerpts & videos):

• Office Ergonomics: Practical Applications

• Stillness is the Key

• Deep Work

• The Power of Silence

• Get Up! Why Your Chair is Killing You

• The Healthy Workplace

I don't think of workspaces as just places for work — it’s where ideas are born.