We’ve said it many times this year, but it’s worth repeating: a strange year continues with its strangeness. Whether you’ve been working from home for years or first experienced it in March, life as you know it most likely hasn’t returned to normal yet. At OKW, we are grateful to have resilient clients and projects that continue to move forward despite the uncertainty in the world.
However, that doesn’t mean that life in the office hasn’t changed. With many safety and hygiene protocols in place to discourage the spread of COVID-19, we’re having to find new and creative avenues for connection. We wrote about this in June, and we’re checking in again on the topic: how are we staying engaged with each other?
BUILD.
It should come as no surprise that architects love LEGOs. In many formative stories within our staff, the stacking blocks play a major role in steering them towards the profession. So for two months, we decided to distribute small bags of random LEGO pieces to whomever wanted them and watched as the creations came pouring in. Then we created small teams and asked each team member to pool their LEGO resources to create one cohesive work. The only catch? Only one person could build it, with all coordination happening over videoconference.
The resulting creations ranged from the austere (a frog), the esoteric (“Over the Kinetic Waterfall”), and the cathartic (“2020: A Year in Review”).
FRESH AIR.
This year, we participated in Rebuilding Together Metro Chicago’s Run to Rebuild, a virtual run/walk/ride that raised money to provide crucial home services for underserved families. We signed up enough OKWers to provide three months’ worth of groceries to three families. As part of the event, we could either (a) run a 5K, (b) walk a 5k, or (c) bike 20 miles.
The images here show some of the paths and neighborhoods where our virtual feats took place, with one of our staff members choosing to mark a geometric “OKW” as her chosen path. She would go on to place 3rd in her division!
CARVE.
Last year, we held a Pumpkin Carving Contest in our office. Each team was given only 60 minutes to create a show-stopping pumpkin and the results were impressive. This year, as we know, that kind of competitive format wasn’t possible. Instead, we moved the competition home and asked our designers to team up with their families to create their own spooky creations for Halloween.
Of course, we voted on our favorites, and the top prize was taken by Porky Pick, a pumpkin-porcupine hybrid, with honorable mentions to Starry Night and Secrets Safe With Me.