Reminiscent of a greenhouse or conservatory, the three intersecting biodomes replace an earlier plan for a six-story office building and would establish a visual focus and “heart” for the three-block project, according to plans filed with the city.
The spheres will offer “a plant-rich environment” filled with species from mountainous ecologies around the globe, chosen for their “ability to coexist in a microclimate that also suits people,” according to the plans.
— seattletimes.com
5 Comments
I always liked Bucky Fuller's Climatron. Is this sort of a update/revival of that biosphere ? See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climatron
and Glen Small's Tropishere
http://www.smallatlarge.com/2012/03/downtown-tropisphere-3/
eric chavkin
Ok what is with design firms sphere obsession on the west coast?? I could buy an argument of utopian revivalism, but its instantly corrupted by the actual program of a project: a private space for elite workers. I hope that at least it retains a program accessible to all amazon employees, and doesn't become an exec dining/conference area, because that would get even more ridiculous. Also while I agree with the sentiment expressed by the review committee in their aims to try and be more architecturally competitive with the rest of the world, 3 booleaned spheres + 10 minutes in paneling tools or grasshopper aint the solution... Anyways, the negative comments by architects on the review committee are already spot on, they don't need more repeating here.
wow.
im surprised by how much I don't like this.
ok, I gotta go maximize nature. bye!
Given, The west coast fascination with spheres is from the influence of Bucky Fuller. Several of Fuller's collaborators worked in Los Angeles including Peter Pearce, Tony Gwilliam and Bernard Judge. Judge designed an iconic geodesic dome residence that is the cover of Shulman's Modernism Rediscovered. Judge was also Marlon Brando's architect for his visionary south seas eco-resort.
more on Fuller and Judge here
http://socalarchhistory.blogspot.com/2011/07/living-lightly-on-land-bernard-judges.html
eric chavkin
dome d-dome dome dome!!!!
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