"Whenever I take someone on a tour of the Centre for Social Innovation New York, I watch their eyes as they widen and light up in delight and wonder. Even if they have seen other co-working spaces or unique office designs, they look with the fresh eyes of a child, who has unexpectedly discovered something new.

 

When you enter the public space you can't quite tell where you are: you know it's a workspace, yet it looks like nothing you have ever seen. Is it an enormous french country kitchen in a private home? With a funky, library/den/clubhouse next to it with clear glass garage doors that open into an event space/classrooms behind it? When they learn the guiding principles of the space design Matthew used (locally sourced materials; whenever possible re-purposed as in the 1930's elevator doors that are now huge dining tables or desks or the art deco metal billboards that now serve as work tables, environmentally conscious, all laid out to inspire collaboration and community) they go into a deeper experience of awe which leads to an engaging dialogue on how we use the space.

 

Then, when we leave the public space to enter into the members space the experience happens again, now in the wonderment of how differently we see work at CSI/NY.  With the natural light from the Hudson River merging with the twisty, LED lights handing like ornaments about the open space design, filled with passionate people at work alone and together, our guests are once again delighted with the possibilities the space calls out to us with."

 

 

Mark Monchek

Founder

The Opp Lab