This article was originally published by Metropolis Magazine as "The Big Ideas Behind Microsoft?s New 'Design Language.'"

The ?Design Language for Place? guidelines emphasize craftsmanship, authentic materials, and locally inspired design details. In Buildings 31 and 32 on Microsoft?s Washington Redmond campus, this means evoking the outdoor culture and woodsy aesthetic of the Pacific Northwest. Image © Aaron Locke

This article was originally published by Metropolis Magazine as "The Big Ideas Behind Microsoft?s New 'Design Language.'"Microsoft is undertaking an ambitious overhaul of its 800 offices around the world and uncovering great insights about the intersections of technology and workplace design in the process. The technology giant?s global director of workplace strategies, Riku Pentikäinen, speaks to Metropolis?s Avinash Rajagopal about the company?s new workplaces, collaborating with designers and furniture manufacturers, and how his team takes a data-driven approach to office design.Avinash Rajagopal: You recently opened a number of new workplaces, and there?s a broader strategy around workplace design in place at Microsoft. What drove that"Riku Pentikäinen: Going back a couple of years, I saw Microsoft doing a lot of cool spaces from a design perspective, but they didn?t have a whole lot in common. Two years ago, we started a project to establish a design language for Microsoft. It?s very tricky to do?everybody will ...