Vol. 2: After Party
286 Pages
14x21,5cm
2023
Office Party

Last call. The lights turn on. People scatter, some for their beds and others for a nightcap. The party’s over. What happens next can take a number of different turns; however, this doesn’t mean that the party hasn’t left its mark on the people who attended and the spaces it has occupied. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Perhaps we notice the after effects of parties most concretely through our hangovers, but their impact is not only physiological—social networks expand and contract, commodities are consumed and discarded, music preferences broaden or narrow, stories are shared and new ones made, and on and on. Parties are unique social spaces where there are high concentrations of people, conversation, physical interaction, materials, objects, emotions, and ideas—this brief-yet-powerful assemblage can have lasting effects on the people who attended as they carry with them their experiences from that one night. Parties prove that what is small and temporary can have a lasting impact.

Party Planner is an annual architecture and design publication that explores the relationship between design and alternative social spaces. The term “party” serves as a malleable concept that helps to connect what are often seen as disparate forms of gathering and social interaction. Ranging from raves and casual get-togethers to more formal performances and galas, a comprehensive categorization of parties provides insight into the development of architecture as a temporary and responsive mode of space-making.