- The origins of lofts can be traced back to the New York of the 1950"s: at that time, artists and bohemians in search of cheap places to live and work began to move into abandoned late-nineteenth-century industrial buildings. As such, they unknowingly created what we now refer to as the loft. This book provides examples from huge industrial spaces to small premises where architects have to take the fullest possible advantage of the spatial possibilities to create a feeling of greater expansiveness. The ideas come from some of the most renowned architects in the world, and they can be applied to a variety of spaces and interpreted in different ways to suit personal tastes and satisfy specific requirements.