Architects: How Does the Series “Severance” Reflect the Crises of Modern Architecture?
In a world increasingly dominated by impersonal architectural spaces, the series Severance offers a terrifying yet honest vision of how built environments shape our identities and behaviors. Whether you’re an architect seeking inspiration or interested in design’s societal impact, this analysis will reveal how the show’s scenes have become a powerful metaphor for contemporary architecture’s crises.
Severance: More Than a Series – An Architectural Warning
When Season 2 of Severance launched, it didn’t just attract viewers on Apple TV—it also featured an ingenious promotional campaign at New York’s Grand Central Station, where the team recreated the interiors of Lumon Industries, the series’ primary setting. This event wasn’t merely publicity; it was a visual commentary on how workspaces have transformed into modern prisons.
Why Should Architects Care About “Severance”?
- Isolated Workspaces: Lumon’s design reflects a troubling trend in modern offices—identity-free spaces, detached from the outside world, designed to enforce control.
- Cities as Beehives: The series highlights how cities have become repetitive blocks of buildings that make residents feel isolated despite overcrowding.
- The Inside-Outside Contrast: While corporate building facades appear massive and striking (Lumon’s real-life HQ is Bell Works in New Jersey), their interiors are designed to crush individuality.
Architecture in “Severance”: Analyzing Key Spaces
1. “Lumon Industries” HQ: The Modern Prison
- Real Location: Bell Works in Holmdel, New Jersey—a modernist architectural masterpiece that has become a symbol of corporate surveillance.
- Interior Design: Repetitive corridors, cold artificial lighting, and windowless spaces—all elements that reinforce psychological confinement.
- Architectural Message: How enclosed spaces are used to control the human mind.
2. “Mark’s” Home: Suburban Loneliness
- Real Location: Gateway Village in Nyack, New York—a model of mass housing that creates isolation despite density.
- Design: Identical houses, empty streets—a nod to the crises of mass housing and the erosion of individuality.
- Comparison to Vivarium: A film depicting suburban homes as inescapable mazes, much like Mark’s experience in the series.
3. “Devon and Ricken’s” Home: The Privilege of Individual Architecture
- Real Location: Pierre House in Pleasantville, New York—designed by Kunji Domoto (a student of Frank Lloyd Wright).
- Symbolism: The luxurious spaces here contrast with Lumon’s austerity, highlighting class divisions through architecture.
What This Means for Architects Today
- A Warning Against Inhuman Design: Severance reveals the consequences of architecture that ignores human psychological needs.
- A Call for Creativity: How can architects design spaces that foster freedom rather than oppression?
- Balancing Efficiency and Beauty: Can we create more humane offices and cities without sacrificing functionality?
Conclusion: “Severance” as a Mirror to Our Society
Ultimately, Severance isn’t just a show about a dystopian future—it’s a commentary on our present. From corporate offices to suburban neighborhoods, today’s architecture reflects crises of isolation, surveillance, and inequality.
As architects, we face a choice: continue building spaces that exacerbate these problems or reimagine an architecture that recenters humanity in design.
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