Walking inside Instagram 's new New York office feels a bit like stepping onto a movie set designed to look like your feed. In any other work space, glitter bears, translucent, rainbow domes, and a miniature conference room decked out in Versace's iconic golden vector pattern might look out of place. But here, it comes together to look like the best of Instagram brought to life.
While Instagram has had a presence inside Facebook's New York headquarters at 770 Broadway for years, it has rapidly outgrown the shared space. (There are currently 290 employees in New York, and will likely be 60 more by the end of 2018.) Now, Instagram has its own full floor, which signifies both its ever-expanding audience and increasing importance as part of the Facebook business model.
In some ways, the new office is similar to others in the tech industry: The food and drink are free, and conference rooms come with kooky names like All Black Everything and Accidentally Wes Anderson. But there's also a very meta feeling to the space: You know what you're seeing was not only created to represent the app, but it's also meant to end up on the app's feed. (Have you even been to the Instagram office if you haven't taken and posted a photo from the miNY conference room?)
For all of its playfulness, this is still a place where people need to get work done. "We wanted to create a space that was focused on form and usability versus a concept that was over-designed," Kitty Bromhead, Instagram New York's culture lead, told Refinery29 via email.
Unfortunately, the office is not open to the public for tours. Unless you're lucky enough to get invited to an event or have a friend who works there, you'll have to live vicariously through the photos others post. In the meantime, click through for a look at the most Instagrammable spaces from Instagram's New York office.
The Digital Greeting Wall
How does Instagram New York compare to its headquarters at Facebook's campus in Menlo Park? Bromhead says the New York lobby is "darker and grittier", a nod to the city streets outside.
The Digital Greeting Wall that meets everyone who steps inside the office features screens with rotating Stories and feed posts from the app's over 800 million users. You might see photos shot in New York occupying the screens one moment, and others celebrating Pride the next.
Photo: Courtesy of Instagram.
The Dome
Search "Instagram New York" on (where else?) Instagram and you'll already find dozens of photos shot in The Dome. The prismatic space looks like an homage to a trend Instagram helped revive — rainbow everything — and comes complete with a glitter bear prop and overhead lighting grid that can be customized to create an interactive experience for a Story-worthy rave.
However, the installation has a more serious artistic inspiration behind it: Bromhead says it is based on "a Dichroic Geometry concept", a reference to the dichroic, or two-colored, glass NASA and the Department of Defense created in the 1950s. Engineers coated glass in thin layers of metal, which prevented harmful radiation from passing through spacecraft. When artists realized that other wavelengths of light could still pass through and create a beautiful, iridescent effect depending on the angle, they adopted the process and have since used it to make everything from stained glass to jewelry.
At Instagram New York, the effect creates what Bromhead describes as a "content dream" that appears "as a jewel in its surroundings." A jewel that you really want to take photos in, that is.
Photo: Courtesy of Instagram.
The Frozen Palm
Restaurant design has evolved in the Instagram era — to build buzz, you need a space that people want to eat in and photograph — so it's only fitting that Instagram New York has a dining area that fits the must-photograph-immediately aesthetic. The Frozen Palm, which serves free juice and gelato (from 1 p.m. on), features gold gilding and art deco signage for "the perfect combination of flavorful, airy, elegance," Bromhead says.
Employees can pop by for a post-lunch scoop of Thai basil gelato and come back later for a Vietnamese coffee-flavored pick-me-up — or one of the other 20-plus flavors available.
Photo: Courtesy of Instagram.
The Living Green Wall
The backdrop of many a cute L.A. brunch spot now has a home in Instagram's office. The living plant wall towards the back of the space spans the height of two floors and is lush enough to fool anyone on Instagram into thinking you really did shoot that photo outside.
Photo: Courtesy of Instagram.
The Thirsty Flamingo
Instagram's original office in Cooper Square featured vibrant pink flamingo wallpaper. You won't find that in the new space, but you will find a self-serve bar called The Thirsty Flamingo that is free and open all day long. Yes, you read that correctly. Why bother leaving for happy hour when you can just have it at the office bar?
Photo: Courtesy of Instagram.
The MiNY Conference Room
Standing small at just 5.5 feet by 4.5 feet, Instagram's miNY conference room is the smallest meeting space in the office and probably the smallest in all of New York. Since it was built in 2015, the room has become a popular go-to spot for Instagram visitors to take photos. Eva Chen, the company's head of fashion partnerships, has brought many an A-lister inside for a Honey, I Shrunk The Kids experience.
Last week, the miniature Eames chair and dry-erase board were replaced with a head-to-toe Versace takeover: The walls, floor, tea set, sofa, and table are currently covered in the designer's signature pattern, in honor of Donatella Versace's International Award at this year's CFDA Fashion Awards.
While this was the first designer collaboration on the room, it is surely not the last: Bromhead says Instagram "looks forward to other opportunities in the future."
Photo: Courtesy of Instagram.Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
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