It is one of the most famous sets in the history of television, in part thanks to the bizarre color combination of its decoration and the unexpected purple color of its walls.
.jpg "Monica's iconic Friends apartment was painted purple (and it makes perfect sense)")
The man responsible for designing the most famous New York apartment in history (despite its only three walls and the fact that it was not actually in that city) is designer John Shaffner, who had to fight to be allowed to paint the walls of that strange tone until now, but I had a very good reason to fight over this detail, which was not so small or so inconsequential.
In an interview for Great Big Story, John Shaffner explained the discussion process until he managed to convince the rest of the team that it was necessary for the walls to be that special purple color: "I said 'I think we should paint the walls 'in purple'. Everyone was anxious about it." To which he added: "No one liked the changes until I painted the miniature model purple." In this video you can see what the entire process of designing the set for one of our favorite series of all time was like.
John Shaffner's reason for choosing purple was clear: a few coats of paint made the apartment have its own personality and, above all, made it unlike anything we had seen before in the history of television. A fun and slightly crazy atmosphere, matching the laughter that the series hoped to unleash among viewers.
Another curious fact that is told in this interview by John Shaffner is about the door at the back of the set. A door that for chapters and chapters we didn't know if it led anywhere. But not even the set designers themselves knew it. Until it suited them perfectly to make an episode just focused on him.
