Follow this tag to curate your own personalized Activity Stream and email alerts.
In 2021, the Google Research Africa team launched Open Buildings, an open-source dataset of building footprints across the Global South produced using AI and high-resolution satellite imagery. The team had a simple vision: to fill a major gap in data for population and density in the developing world. Now in its third version, their dataset contains polygons for 1.8 billion buildings over an area of 58 million km² in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. — Google
The data is useful in determining population size and other factors to solve urban density problems. Google's Research product manager Olivia Graham says: "About 2.5 billion more people could move to cities by 2050, most of them in the Global South — this could be a real step... View full entry
NBC Chicago is reporting on the start of planned demolition work for the Thompson Center in advance of a $280 million makeover that will turn the famed Helmut Jahn-designed building into a new office space for Google for 2026. Work will cover the exterior glass curtain facade and interior atrium... View full entry
Google has not publicly disclosed the reasons for the Wi-Fi problems, but workers say the 600,000-square-foot building’s swooping, wave-like rooftop swallows broadband like the Bermuda Triangle. [...]
But, a Google spokeswoman acknowledged, "we’ve had Wi-Fi connectivity issues in Bay View." She said Google "made several improvements to address the issue," and the company hoped to have a fix in coming weeks.
— Reuters
The roof of the BIG and Heatherwick Studio-designed Bay View headquarters, which opened in 2022, is a key component of the building’s circular design strategy and features 90,000 "dragonscale" solar panels. Some believe they could be causing the interference. Related on Archinect: Google's... View full entry
Google’s brand new New York City headquarters inside St. John’s Terminal at Hudson Square has opened following the completion of a five-year and $2.1 billion project designed by COOKFOX Architects and Gensler. The renovation of the two-block-long former rail terminus yields a total of... View full entry
UCLA has purchased the former Westside Pavilion shopping mall near its campus, reports The Real Deal. The 580,000-square-foot office known as One Westside was formerly been leased to Google for a 14-year term, but was left vacant as the company’s staff reductions began in January of this... View full entry
New renderings for Google’s $280 million redevelopment of the Helmut Jahn-designed James R. Thompson Center in Chicago have been released by the company ahead of the start of construction activities early next year. The announcement was made via Google’s The Keyword blog and appears to show... View full entry
Google has scrapped a $15 billion development deal that would have benefitted California’s Silicon Valley with new modern office parks, affordable housing, and mixed-use districts, according to reports published by CNN and Reuters late Friday. The deals struck with Australian multinational... View full entry
Significant alterations to the exterior of Helmut Jahn’s aging James R. Thompson Center have been revealed inside of planning documents submitted for Google’s forthcoming $280 million renovation of the landmark former government office building in Chicago. The building’s glass facade... View full entry
As part of Google’s downsizing that went into effect early this year, the company has gutted its development team for the San Jose campus.
The construction project, which was supposed to break ground before the end of 2023, has been put on pause, and no plan to restart construction has been communicated to contractors, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named due to non-disclosure agreements.
— CNBC
The news broke on Friday amid a sector-wide fallout caused in part by the tech recession. CNBC reported that some sources now speculate as to whether or not the 80-acre development will be completed at the same scale though both LendLease and Google have reaffirmed their commitment to it in... View full entry
One of Chicago’s iconic pieces of public art will be getting a new home. French artist Jean Dubuffet’s sculpture “Monument with Standing Beast,” in place in front of the Thompson Center since the building opened in 1985, is moving to a different spot in the Loop. — Chicago Sun Times
Following last week’s $105 million sale of the Thompson Center to Google, the famed Dubuffet sculpture will be relocated to a former bank building at 115 S. LaSalle Street, a space purchased by the state of Illinois to house office space lost with the sale. The 29-foot, 10-ton... View full entry
It’s our duty to give them our perspective, but it always ends up being a collaboration between what our ideas and knowledge are, and what their vision is. I would be doing anyone in development a disservice if we didn’t propose and push for something that is greater than what initially is the expectation. Like many things in life, you think you can run a mile this fast, and then someone challenges you to run a little bit faster and you figure out you can. You’re always moving the bar. — The Real Deal
The younger Jahn, now president of the firm his late father established, spoke with TRD about the recently-announced sale of Helmut Jahn's most famous work, commenting that the 37-year-old Thompson Center would be “enhanced to a level and expectation of a 21st-century office” before shutting... View full entry
The sale of the iconic Thompson Center in downtown Chicago is being finalized with Google planning to occupy office space following extensive renovations by the new owner. Google will take over the entire building once the new owners, JRTC Holdings, renovate the Thompson Center to the tech giant's specifications. — CBS Chicago
With its future sorted, the Helmut Jahn-designed building is here to stay. A sale agreement with JRTC Holdings was finalized in March; however, today’s announcement includes revisions to the agreement and the addition of Google as the primary tenant. Originally, Illinois was set to receive... View full entry
Google is negotiating to buy the spaceship-like James R. Thompson Center in Chicago in a deal that could provide a much-needed boost to the city’s Loop business district.
The Mountain View, California-based tech giant is seeking to buy the Helmut Jahn-designed building at 100 W. Randolph St., where it plans to expand its Chicago offices into a large portion of the 17-story building’s soon-to-be-renovated office space, according to people familiar with the deal.
— CoStar
The future for Chicago's James R. Thompson Center, designed by the late Helmut Jahn, may be looking a bit brighter after the National Trust for Historic Preservation added the postmodern gem to its annual “America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places” list in 2019. Last year, the Chicago... View full entry
Harvard University has today announced its first-ever cohort for the brand new Climate Justice Design Fellowship, recognizing young leaders across the country in the fields of environmental justice advocacy, law, and climate organizing. The first class of fellows consists of seven... View full entry
Google has announced the opening of its new Bay View campus in Mountain View, California, with the neighboring Charleston East project in its final phase of construction. Together, they form the latest additions to Google's headquarters. Photo: Iwan Baan, courtesy of Google The web giant... View full entry
