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Headquarters: The Latest Architecture and News

NBBJ Proposes Five-Story Biodome for Amazon's Seattle Headquarters

In an attempt to “create an alternative environment” in the center of Amazon’s recently approved, three-block headquarters planned for downtown Seattle, NBBJ has submitted a revision that would replace a six-story office building with a tri-sphere biodome that will host various forms of plant life and provide a more natural setting for employees to work and socialize. Perhaps this change is Amazon’s way of “keeping up with the Joneses”, as many leading corporations - Apple, Google, and Facebook - have been unveiling plans to construct one-of-the-kind office complexes centered around sustainability, innovation and collaboration.

NBBJ Proposes Five-Story Biodome for Amazon's Seattle Headquarters - OfficesNBBJ Proposes Five-Story Biodome for Amazon's Seattle Headquarters - OfficesNBBJ Proposes Five-Story Biodome for Amazon's Seattle Headquarters - OfficesNBBJ Proposes Five-Story Biodome for Amazon's Seattle Headquarters - OfficesNBBJ Proposes Five-Story Biodome for Amazon's Seattle Headquarters - More Images+ 7

NBBJ Proposes Five-Story Biodome for Amazon's Seattle Headquarters - Offices
Proposed Plan; Courtesy of Seattle.gov © NBBJ / Studio 216

The Motherships Are Landing: What Google’s New Headquarters Reveal About Apple 2

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The Motherships Are Landing: What Google’s New Headquarters Reveal About Apple 2 - Featured Image

When Apple revealed the plans for their new campus in Cupertino, the responses to the “spaceship” were….varied, to say the least:

Spectacular would be an understatement” ; “So disappointing…” ; a “…panopti-lawn…” ; and – my personal favorite – “Sphincter?” [1]

The announcement instigated a flurry of analyses and criticisms over the meaning of the design for the world – the Zen-like significance of the circle, the role of architecture in this technologically-driven age, the legacy and hubris of Jobs – but produced very little discussion over its meaning for the company itself.

Meanwhile, months before news of the “spaceship” landed, another internet giant was searching the California landscape for its own space to call home. Still very much under-wraps, the new Googleplex will be the first time Google builds a workplace completely from scratch. [2]

These projects will be the Magnum Opuses, the ultimate physical representations, of the two most influential Tech companies in the world, and the two share striking similarities. So let’s clash the plans of these two titans and take another look at Apple 2 – but this time in the light of Google – and see what they can tell us about these companies’ futures.