As much as AMC's Mad Men is known for beautiful ad people and their opaque brand of whiskey-fueled, midcentury toil—affairs! chauvinism! stolen jardinieres!—the show is perhaps equally beloved for its stringent adherence to the style of the period. Though now in its final season, Mad Men steams onward in its burnt-orange and teak-paneled glory, continuing to send midcentury geeks to the smelling salts and shelter magazines to its production sets like flies to a forgotten fruit bowl—and thankfully so. Interior Design magazine just dropped a huge spread touring the 1969 office grandeur that is Sterling Cooper & Partners, a scene whose major players include turquoise glass ash trays, faux walnut paneling, and some of the best typewriter porn out there. Creator Matthew Weiner admits in ID's interview that his design team is "fetishistic about detail" and committed to telling a story through the set. "All the clutter you see reflects the characters," he says. "It's just as important for me to show a character's open desk drawer with a half roll of Life Savers, with the paper rolled back, as it is to find the perfect dining table."
Of the office spaces themselves—floorplan, this way—Weiner says,
"The biggest decision we made was not to do cubicles at Sterling Cooper. It's the '60's, and there were many offices with cubicles [...] Dan came up with the account-executive lounge, where we can accumulate characters in a public space. They can pass through it, which is important. We don't have to start every scene with someone knocking on a door. We don't get trapped in an office. Although, if we do, there are windows with these incredible backdrops." Many of the set pieces are so midcentury it hurts, and so classic they're easy to identify: Florence Knoll–style sofas with their flat, tufted cushions, Herman Miller lounges in the conference room, and an orangey-salmon plastic-mold Eames chairs tucked under the secretaries' desks. There are a few more shots below; for the whole spread, head over to Interior Design.
· Welcome to 1969: Mad Men's Award-Winning Set Design [Interior Design]
· All Mad Men posts [Curbed National]
· All 1960s posts [Curbed National]
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