When Work Feels Like a Maze
Have you ever felt like your office was a little too plain or too quiet? In Severance, those cold, white hallways at Lumon take that feeling to the extreme.
Filmed at Bell Labs, a place once meant to inspire collaboration, it now feels more like a fortress of control.
That mirrored glass reflects the dual lives of the severed employees, hinting that the building itself knows more than it’s letting on. Even the architecture feels like it’s keeping secrets.
Hallways to Nowhere
The Severed Floor is a white, windowless maze where time and direction evaporate. The fluorescent lighting never changes, making it impossible to tell day from night.
Every hallway looks the same, disorienting both workers and viewers. It’s an endless loop of confinement, trapping innies in a space that never reveals an exit.
Junkspace in Action
Rem Koolhaas coined the term “junkspace” to describe places built for function, not for people. Lumon’s offices are a perfect example of it.
Sterile, blank, and devoid of personality, they reduce humans to interchangeable cogs in a machine. The environment reflects how Lumon views its employees as replaceable, with no room for individuality. Efficiency here means erasing the human element.
Mark’s House, Mark’s Grief
Mark’s home is one of many cookie-cutter blue townhouses, symbolizing monotony. His furniture is sparse, and his walls are mostly empty, just like his emotional state after losing his wife.
It’s not cozy or lived-in; it’s numb. His home mirrors his grief, which, like everything else in his life, feels compartmentalized and distant. Even his outie life is stuck in the same loop.
Irving’s Dark Haven
Irving’s apartment is dark, minimal, and filled with paintings of Lumon’s hallways. His outie can’t escape the labyrinth of his innie life.
The starkness of his space reflects loneliness, while his obsessive art suggests a deeper psychological entrapment. Even at home, he’s still trapped in Lumon’s world, never truly free. It’s a home consumed by corporate ghosts.
Dylan’s Suburban Dream (or Nightmare)
Dylan’s home is middle-class suburbia—structured, safe, and neatly controlled. From the outside, it’s an ideal slice of the American Dream.
But something is unnerving about how perfectly everything fits. The repetitive suburban layout mimics Lumon’s control, and from above, the houses look like little corporate logos, symbolizing conformity. Dylan may have a family, but his home is still a cage.
The Eagan Estate
The Eagan family mansion is a modernist masterpiece of glass and steel, completely open, in stark contrast to the confined homes of the workers.
The transparency of their home symbolizes the immense power they wield. They can see everything, but their employees are trapped in the shadows, denied even a glimpse of real freedom.
Train Stations
Public spaces like train stations and parks serve as liminal zones, acting as thresholds between the severed and unsevered lives.
These transitional spaces mirror the internal struggles of the characters as they move between two realities. Train stations are especially symbolic of this tension, reflecting the constant push and pull of identity.
Colors with a Purpose
Lumon isn’t shy about using color to control. Rooms are often coded in specific hues: blue, green, or purple. Each is chosen to influence mood and reinforce the company’s dominance.
It’s a subtle, almost invisible form of manipulation, designed to shape the psychological experiences of the workers without them even realizing it.
The Wellness Room
The Wellness Room is one of the eeriest spaces in Lumon’s office. With just a tree, a table, and a few mid-century chairs, it feels stripped bare.
Ms. Casey offers cold, factual comfort about the outie lives of the workers, but it’s hollow. The minimalist design reflects the shallow attempts at emotional support, offering nothing more than corporate-approved platitudes.
Optics and Design
The Optics and Design department is the most artistic space within Lumon’s world. With 3-D printers and conservation tools, it feels oddly out of place, like a playground for creation in a company bent on control.
Yet even here, creativity is limited, boxed into corporate-approved projects. Art here is just another form of manipulation, not freedom.
The Break Room
The Break Room in Lumon is anything but relaxing. It’s a place of punishment, where employees are forced to “break” emotionally through repeated confessions of guilt.
The cold, sterile environment mirrors the psychological torture happening inside, where remorse is demanded and control is absolute. This room isn’t about rest, it’s about breaking you down.
Kier: A Company Town Frozen in Time
The town of Kier is a relic of the past, designed to feel both idyllic and unsettling. Its neatly preserved streets and old-fashioned charm contrast sharply with the cold modernism of Lumon.
But even here, the company’s presence looms large, creating a sense of inescapability for the workers who live there.
The Garden Room
Its nature is under corporate control, beautiful but ultimately empty.
In Lumon, even nature feels artificial. The Garden Room, with its controlled patches of greenery, is a sad attempt to bring the outside in.
The plants are perfectly manicured, and the space feels more like a display than a real connection to the natural world.
The Eerie Elegance of Lumon’s Atrium
The central atrium of Lumon’s headquarters is a stunningly designed space with towering ceilings and sleek lines. But its grandeur is more oppressive than inspiring.
The open, echoing space feels cold and impersonal, much like the company itself. Its beauty is a façade, masking the deeper, darker truths within. Even elegance can hide control.
But if you want to really pull off an elegant look, check out these 17 timeless decor ideas you’ll love forever.
The Conference Room
Lumon’s conference room is where major decisions are made, but it’s not a place of transparency.
The dark wood and dim lighting create an atmosphere of secrecy. It’s a space that feels closed off, both physically and emotionally, emphasizing the hidden agendas at play.
In the end, Severance, through their interior design, reflects our reality, which is how everything is designed to keep you divided. If you want some inspiration to decorate your home, tips for ‘The Perfect Couple’ home aesthetics can help greatly.
Read More From This Brand:
- 14 Iconic Homes From Top Movies and TV Shows
- Everything to Know About ‘The Home Alone’ House
- 15 Ways to Make Your Home Look Out of a Movie
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