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Kengo Kuma and Associates has unveiled plans for a new biophilia-laden office complex in downtown San Jose, California. Under the monicker “Park Habitat,” the massive new 1.3-million-square-foot development offers 20 stories of office and retail spaces which are beset by a network of internal... View full entry
Following four days of widespread scorn after attempting to block a new state law allowing duplexes on single-family lots by declaring itself a “mountain-lion habitat,” the wealthy Silicon Valley enclave of Woodside has backed down.
At the end of a town emergency Town Council meeting Sunday night, almost all of which was held in closed session to discuss potential litigation, city officials announced they would begin accepting applications for new duplexes.
— LA Times
Woodside’s tired attempt at circumventing two of the most important and proactive laws in favor of affordable housing in recent memory drew an incredible amount of ire online before being withdrawn Sunday night following a letter from Attorney General Rob Bonta warning the town that “there is... View full entry
The well-heeled Silicon Valley suburb of Woodside has come up with a novel way to block plans that would potentially bring in more affordable housing: Declare itself Cougar Town.
Last week, officials in the enclave of 5,500 people announced that all of Woodside was exempt from a new state housing law that allows for duplex development on single-family home lots. The reason? The entire town is habitat for potentially endangered mountain lions.
— The LA Times
The move is potentially foreshadowing of the ways in which local governments in California will, as predicted before Governor Gavin Newsome signed S.B. 9 into law in September, attempt to brush off the state’s efforts to mandate zoning that would engender an increase in multi-family residential... View full entry
For more than three decades, Clive Wilkinson has been among the most sought-after office designers in the world. He has planned spaces for the likes of Microsoft, Disney, Intuit and other companies seeking unorthodox approaches to work life.
But he now has regrets about what is perhaps his most famous work: Googleplex, the tech giant's posh headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.
— NPR
Wilkinson’s statements offer a rebuke to the Silicon Valley culture he played a role in pioneering and now deems to be "fundamentally unhealthy." The $1 billion office complex in Mountain View, California designed by STUDIOS Architecture with interiors by Wilkinson is serviced by a... View full entry
Vancouver-based developer Westbank has unveiled plans for a collection of mixed-use projects in downtown San Jose, California. The development will feature six new or renovated buildings by leading architects including Kengo Kuma and Associates, Bjarke Ingels Group, Studio Gang, James K.M... View full entry
After several rounds of jury reviews, Silicon Valley may have found its new landmark. The winning proposal is said to "symbolize people standing and working together." On March 25th, Fernando Jerez and Belén Pérez de Juan of SMAR Architecture Studio were announced as winners of the... View full entry
Google unveiled on Wednesday its most detailed vision yet for a transit-oriented neighborhood in downtown San Jose [...]
Google’s village would add 7.3 million square feet of offices, 4,000 homes, shops, restaurants, a hotel, 10 parks, cultural and entertainment hubs, and immersive and interactive educational elements near downtown San Jose’s Diridon train hub.
— Mercury News
Google's ambitious 80-acre, transit-oriented Downtown West plan first appeared on Archinect in October 2019 and involves a number of prominent architecture and urban design firms, including Kohn Pedersen Fox (related), Heatherwick Studio, Grimshaw Architects, SHoP Architects, Solomon Cordwell... View full entry
As the largest city in the Silicon Valley, San Jose yearned for a physical structure that would help "define the identity and spirit of this extraordinary region" as explained in the competition's brief. Inspired by the original San Jose Electric Light Tower that stood 1881 to 1915, the San José... View full entry
Just because prominent technology companies, including Twitter, Amazon, Apple, and others, have announced plans to extend work from home policies into 2022 and beyond, it doesn't mean they aren't planning for a return to the office somewhere down the line. A case in point is Google, which... View full entry
Katerra has failed to complete roughly a dozen projects and could only name one that was delivered on time. All the while, logistical and technology-based issues have chipped away at the company’s image as a revolutionary tech startup.
Some clients have ended their relationship with the firm. Other clients, however, are tied to Katerra’s executives, and have drummed up business for the company—a similar arrangement used by WeWork executives, which became a concern for some investors
— The Real Deal
The Real Deal takes an investigative look at some of the recent business dealings and project announcements from Katerra. The vertically integrated construction and modular building components start-up is facing renewed media and financial scrutiny following the recently announced closure of... View full entry
The firm's entry to the San Francisco Department of Public Works' (DPW) design competition calling for "the conceptualization of industrial art that would double as toilets," was selected as the winner. Courtesy of SmithGroup The design, called AmeniTREES, is a multi-functional kit of... View full entry
This post is brought to you by the Urban Confluence Silicon Valley UPDATE: Urban Confluence Silicon Valley has extended the entry deadline to July 1, 2020.San José Light Tower Corporation invites visionaries, place-makers, architects, artists, designers, students, and dreamers to help... View full entry
Investment in cloud infrastructure has surged since 2015, and the market for data-center equipment is expected to grow at an average annualized rate of roughly 16% this year and next, according to Citigroup Inc.
Cloud servers, though, typically have a lifespan of only about three years, according to experts, meaning that some of the earliest equipment already has passed its use-by date.
— The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the anticipated market for scrap metal and other components used to make cloud computing infrastructure. As the cloud computing era gets underway globally, efforts to recycle the short-lived data servers that power the cloud have been complicated by... View full entry
The Los Angeles office market has been on the upswing since 2013 and showed no sign of stalling in the second quarter as tech and entertainment firms continue to expand into new space.
Developers are responding to the demand by building new offices that are often rented long before they are completed, which was unusual during previous real estate cycles when tenants typically waited to see finished buildings before making commitments.
— The Los Angeles Times
The tech industry's expansion into the Los Angeles office market continues unabated, The Los Angeles Times reports. In recent months, Los Angeles has grown to become home to the third-largest tech workforce on the west coast, with San Francisco and Seattle still far in the lead. The... View full entry
As the tech companies Uber, Airbnb, Lyft and Pinterest prepare to go public, thousands more instant millionaires are expected to flood the market in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. All the while, the middle class and working poor are scrambling for shelter. — The Guardian
