[spolsky]

why wouldn't a private office have natural light?

[RogerL]

Because most buildings have a large footprint, and only the offices on the parameter have windows. I am typing from a windowless, interior, private office. It is pretty depressing, but I prefer it to open space (which I could easily get here). Others, of course, like the person we are replying to, would feel differently.

[bryanlarsen]

One of Spolsky's articles pointed out that hotels are also large buildings that manage to get an outside window on every room...

[jeroen94704]

A bit of a tangent, but this is the reason why there are no real high-rise buildings in Europe (The tallest building in the EU is only 1004 ft high). There are laws that determine the minimum amount of natural light an office should have. Since taller buildings have a larger footprint, at some point the interior offices no longer get the required amount of natural light, meaning they can no longer be used as a work-area, thus making the building uneconomical.

[bighi]

I'm starting to think it's a cultural thing. Why do you and other people think that not having natural light is depressing? When I see people from US or some other countries talking about lighting, they seem to almost worship natural light.

[stephenhuey]

Because some private offices are more like dungeons buried in the bowels of a soulless building than the happy home of Fog Creek. :)