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Architects: MARC FORNES / THEVERYMANY
- Year: 2025
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Photographs:Doublespace Photography
Text description provided by the architects. Commissioned by Google and designed by Marc Fornes/THEVERYMANY, The Orb is a monumental pavilion in Mountain View, California. This 10-meter-tall, 26-meter-wide, ultra-thin aluminium structure serves as the centrepiece of the public plaza at Google's Charleston East Campus. Its undulating, surreal form embodies the spirit of innovation and creativity central to the company's work culture.
The Orb lies somewhere between a pavilion and an art installation. "For architects, we're too much of an artist; for artists, too much of an architect," says Marc Fornes. What is essential for his studio is that the object is both functional and capable of provoking emotion and sparking naive curiosity. While The Orb performs as a place for encounters and contemplation, its organic form provides visitors with a dreamlike experience.
Edged yet edgeless, surfaces curve, branch, split, rejoin, and split again. This extreme curvature̶achieved through cutting-edge computational design̶enables the surfaces to be entirely self-supporting despite being just 3mm thick. Though apparently seamless, The Orb is crafted from 6,441 individual aluminium components, connected by over 217,000 rivets̶making it not just visually striking but sophisticatedly engineered.
Even before anyone steps inside, the fluid surfaces of the pavilion interact with light, casting irregular shadows that seem to be constantly in flux. Made of perforated aluminium, these surfaces allow daylight to filter through them, creating a dappled effect on the ground evocative of a starred sky. By night, the entire volume transforms into a glowing sculpture, establishing a dynamic interplay of light and shadow that evolves over time.
The Orb is an experiential landmark contributing to the campus' visual identity. It is an immersive, futuristic space for employees and visitors to gather, explore, and engage. And while the tools used by Marc Fornes/THEVERYMANY to create The Orb are complex, their goal is simple: to craft an experience that evokes joy̶the joy of wandering, the joy of marvelling.
