from Patrick McKenzie | by Patrick McKenzie

Tiny little detail from Tsutaya's coworking space: they festooned a lot of the walls and alcoves with artwork on loan from a gallery, with price tags attached, which seems like a really inspired choice assuming it works.

"Your home office probably isn't as pretty as this workstation cubicle, but for 207,900 yen you could at least have this original piece by Mariko Isozaki sitting on your desk." (It is marble and, out of concern for social norms about reproductions of works, no photo, sorry.)

The short game is attempting to drum up sales of galleried artworks but I think the longer, smarter game is attempting to convince people that "Congratulations, if you work in coworking space in a desirable neighborhood, you are The Type Of Person Who Buys Art From Artists now."

"You might have thought that art was for rich people, and who cares what rich people do. Comfortable people like yourself support the arts by buying tasteful, understated pieces such as we happen to have on display by some neighborhood artists who you could meet for coffee here."

(You'd think that a forward thinking gallery or two in a tech center might contact some Workplace teams and say "Hey, want to *really* increase the visual impact of a few areas of your office at no cost to you? We have a proposition for you.")