Text description provided by the architects. The birthplace of Pong. The home of Facebook. The epicenter of the Cloud.
Mark Horton / Architecture (MH/A)'s renovation of an existing former Silicon Graphics office building in Mountain View, California, into the new home of the Computer History Museum is genius loci made physical.
The transformation of the first floor of the building into a new entrance hall and orientation theater, a café and bookstore, and a 25,000 sqf exhibition space housing Revolution : The First 2000 Years of Computing is the perfect re-use of a formerly high-flying computer company in the perfect location.
Surrounded by a who's who of computing - Google, Apple, HP, Cisco- the Computer History Museum attempts to document a work-in-progress. Exhibiting everything from an ENIAC to an Enigma Machine, from an early (wooden) computer mouse (1963) to the first mechanical and programmable computer - the Babbage Difference Engine (designed in 1821), and from an Apple 1 to a Palm Pilot, the museum is a testament to the exponential evolution of computing and the truth of Moore's Law.
The architectural transformation of the front portion of the existing building into an inviting and sophisticated lobby is the initial experience of the museum-goer. Semi-public amenities, including a café and a bookstore, reinforce this initial impression. An orientation theater and a transitional connection to the exhibition space move the visitor along to the 25,000 sf exhibition space.
Computers pervade our world today. MH/A feels lucky to have made its mark
on that world.
