[VIDEO] This Man Designed the Most Famous (Fictional) New York City Apartment

Whether an apartment like it is impossible or not, when most of the world thinks of what a New York City apartment is like, they think of Monica's apartment in Friends. In this video in the Human Condition series from our friends at Great Big Story, meet John Shaffner, the award-winning set designer behind the apartment's creation.

There’s no apartment in New York City more famous than Monica’s impossible rent-controlled, two-bedroom West Village digs. From the purple walls to the outdoor terrace, the “Friends” apartment became the quintessential ideal of everything New York could be. That’s all thanks to John Shaffner, the man responsible for creating the set of “Friends.” As a production designer, Shaffner has worked on 44 different series and 68 pilots, including “Dharma and Greg,” “The Drew Carey Show,” “Two and a Half Men,” and “The Big Bang Theory.”