Apple Inc. has landed its second spaceship — this time, in Sunnyvale — in a massive deal that exemplifies a new era in Silicon Valley real estate and crystalizes Apple’s enormous growth trajectory outside of its Cupertino stronghold. [...]
One caveat: It’s unclear whether the project will be built according to that design, from architecture firm HOK, or if Apple and Landbank will want to modify it in some way.
— bizjournals.com
On its marketing microsite Notanotherbox.com, real estate firm Landbank Investments and architects HOK present the designs for the planned new Apple "Central & Wolfe Campus" with a series of box-hating and Walter-Isaacson-quote-spiked slides:
All images via notanotherbox.com, design by HOK.
In other Apple-Campus-related news on Archinect:
18 Comments
HOK? ughh
is not another box? looks like a glass box to me http://www.hofcraft.com/images/BE26SM&L.jpg
its still a box no matter how you package it.
Another bird kill-zone marketed as a blending of building and nature? Hopefully the curves at least reduce the deaths...
Though a box, there's something to be said for what seems like a more reasonable scale...
I prefer this to the Foster one.
Ya know - I miss the good ole days of Sunnyvale -
HOK? ughh
Deep.
Another monument to tax dodging exploiters of slave labor.
xenakis - we will miss that office environment truly one day......to think my grandma, a secretary for the Union of some trade in Denver in the 70's was in a windowless room in bad flourescent lighting smoking cigarettes all day and now its all Google bullshit happy work places.....work shouldn't be happy, it should be productive.
"Deep."
Says the author of a bathroom joke book...who makes furniture now.
davvid, we know what HOK does. They do have moments of brilliance once in a while, though. Lets see what youve done.
Sameolddoctor,
In which buildings do you see those moments of brilliance?
I cannot compare what I do to what HOK does. They are among the ten largest firms in the country. They have a tremendous opportunity to do bold an innovative work. For whatever reason, Apple seems to shy away from more experimental firms. Maybe they're striving for a contemporary style that is so generic that it lacks any sign of human intellect and creativity. Remember that images of the flying saucer building were initially publicized without mention of Foster.
davvid, you're not insightful enough to be a literature critic. Maybe you could be a food critic. "These muffins taste bad." Or an art critic. "That painting is bad."
Or an architecture critic: "ughh."
Miles, that means a lot coming from you.
Just to be clear here, apple has agreed to lease space (maybe all of it?) in a building being developed independantly by a private developer. The design was finished years ago before Apple ever was invloved, so reading this as any sort of statement about apple's design intent is a misreading.
this article gives a good insight into that history, and the process of developers targetting a project based on architectural image.
What I see as interesting is that the developer is openly copying the design image of a target customer's HQ (in a somewhat clumsy way), and then snags that customer! As architects, we would do well to try to understand this aspect of marketing and how we can sell our services in targetting designs towards a desired user. There is no universal good design: everything has a target, whether or not its clearly understood by the designer.
Good points, midlander
In spite of this, Apple cannot help itself but become Microsoft whenever Steve Jobs exits.
It appears to me that regardless the tenant, HOK does not expect any work to be done there...
535 Mission in SF is pretty well detailed - really tight - same with 150 California - I worked on a TI for one of the floors there and HOK does precise work - design? - I interviewed there once for a job doing prisons - everyone I know who did time on the prison stuff quit - I didnt go there either - they really work their people hard - I had the misfortune of working for 2 ex HOK people(prison) - 7 day weeks 8am - 10pm.
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