An Inside Look at the Offices of Martha Stewart, Michael Bloomberg, Aby Rosen, Paul Rudnick, and More -- New York Magazine

Room to Work

Success requires brains, ambition— and office hours. Here’s what it looks like when you get there.

By David Colman
Published Apr 1, 2007

(Photo: Lisa Kereszi)

Lewis Kornhauser
NYU School of Law Professor, 40 Washington Sq. S.
However messy it might appear, Kornhauser’s office is a case study right out of the new book, A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder. “There’s an optimal degree of disorder for efficiency,” says Kornhauser, “though I think I might have passed it.” Kornhauser holds a Ph.D. in economics, and is more of a describer than a proscriber, which one might say is clear from his organizational style. Whether it’s a result of nature or nurture, his disorganization is a fact his wife and his colleagues accept, if not admire. “It’s always been like this,” he said, “but my office has gotten bigger over time, so I am able to express myself more fully.”