Housekeeping by Design

“Design scholar and unabashed hotel fan Brody serves up a wonderfully readable mix of personal anecdote, historical overview, theoretical analysis, and ethnography in a perceptive study of the ‘invisible work’ of housekeeping.”

“Housekeeping by Design is as much a call for action as it is an academic study of how design choices impact on physical labor. . . . Original, engaging, and thought-provoking, Housekeeping by Design is an essential study for anyone wishing to venture beyond design history’s usual realm of object, producer, and consumer to seriously consider designed systems, services, and experiences.”

“Most studies of hotel design as it pertains to hospitality services emanate from the social sciences and appear in hospitality industry publications rather than books published by academic presses. For the most part these studies focus on increasing the allure of the ‘servicescape’ and thereby its profits. Housekeeping by Design is very different in both content and literary quality: it deals with the ethics of design, and it is a good read. Brody argues that building design that does not attend to those who maintain the building is morally questionable and functionally/economically inefficient. In the course of this discussion he also probes other moral issues, like ‘green’ posturing that allows corporate savings only at the expense of an increased burden on the workers. Brody’s admonishments are based on substantive archival research and on-the-ground investigation, including interviews with staff at all levels. The author highlights the discussion with anecdotes from his own experience—his encounters with both the unexpected (e.g., an exploding fireplace) and the pleasurable (scenic views of Kauai). This is a thorough consideration of the physical aspects of architecture, historical conditions in the hotel services, and the all-too-often overlooked needs of the hospitality industry’s labor force. Highly recommended.”

“Housekeeping by Design is a thorough and well-written study of service design, housekeeping, and labor in the hotel industry. Brody brings a designer’s sensibility and a researcher’s focus to a subject that most travelers encounter but never see. The book is a significant contribution to the study of service design and to the field of design more generally in its emerging research practices. Brody’s book provides a fascinating contrast between the vision and imagination of the world’s greatest luxury hôteliers and the service system and labor that lie behind every hotel today. One will find it but a small step from this study of the hospitality industry to the many issues of labor and patient experience in the healthcare industry. The merging of hotel hospitality and healthcare has become a model for a growing number of hospital systems. Their administrators will benefit from reading this book.”

“Housekeeping by Design is a stunning achievement. It has the page-turning pace of a whodunit, the moral vigor and indignation of a utopian tract, and the practical good sense of the best design writing. It will change the way you experience hotels; if we are very lucky it will change hotels.”

“In addition to his incisive history of the hotel industry’s division of labor, Brody delivers a far-reaching call for architects to collaborate with workers—the real end-users of hotels—in designing buildings. The result is a book that can and should be acted on.”

"Explores the tension between design and labor within the world of hotels, focusing on housekeeping and their role in maintaining hotel-design choices. Considers how integrating workers into the design process can improve working conditions, reduce labor unrest, and improve the relationship among guests, workers, and management."