Hmm, this is perhaps the dumbest post I've read. The article use available renderings. And I, nor most of the posters seems to agree with you that the Google campus rendering is unfavourable. It looks genuinely playful and fits google's image. The Apple campus is half-kitch, half-elegance, like most of their products. Where is the propaganda?
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What Apple's and Google's Headquarters Plans Reveal About Their Cultures
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Hmm, this is perhaps the dumbest post I've read. The article use available renderings. And I, nor most of the posters seems to agree with you that the Google campus rendering is unfavourable. It looks genuinely playful and fits google's image. The Apple campus is half-kitch, half-elegance, like most of their products. Where is the propaganda?
Apple's new campus will have a daycare. There are no corners for the misbehaving urchins of Execs to kneel in with this design
obviously people can look into things WAY too much....however I saw it as this:
Apple - Cold, closed and controlling
Google - Organised (each department group in their own buildings), messy, open.
Hardly. Not a single building without a curve in it's layout. Horrible use of space for a housing project considering those are typically made with the intent fitting as many units in as you can.
Admittedly I had not seen that building before, but Apple's reminds me more of the old forest or launch arcologies from Sim City 2000
I would lay money on Apple's campus never getting started, or at the very least, never getting finished. It is an all-or-nothing monument to hubris.
In Google's case they can afford to build some or all of it and adapt to changing conditions as they go.
In Google's case they can afford to build some or all of it and adapt to changing conditions as they go.
Aren't they building one in CA? It would be interesting to see.
EDIT: Sounds like expansion: http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/29/samsung-to-build-a-massive-rd-complex-in-silicon-valley/
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To me, Google's headquarters are shaped more like arrows pointing inwards and around, compared to Apple's singular Loop.
When you compare this, obviously aesthetically it gives and impression, but what about for the people actually /working/ there? How do people move about in those spaces?
I'm an apple lover at heart, but I'm not going to lie about wanting to work in an office-type environment similar to that of Google's. Utilising different zones and 'break-out' spaces, categorising and theming different floors and offices with unique features to inspire the individuals inside is fundamental to keeping creative people on-the-go. There is Architecture in that, it's new, it's forward thinking and it's really radical.
Apple's however, its secretive and, though I know some of the mentioned above elements may be true (just no-one has seen much of the inside spaces, there never really has been a need to.) How do people move from one side to the other? What "clusters" fit together? Is there a hierarchy here? The team working on the design here were definitely focusing on making a piece which is timeless and iconic -- much like all of Apple's products and ecosystem in fact.
Stripping the companies from the buildings, though, if you do a little more research into the way these spaces have been made (regardless of what actual products they're trying to achieve are) the work environments inspire totally different things from their users and are inspiring and displaying very different approaches to work. This is what's fascinating to me.
When you compare this, obviously aesthetically it gives and impression, but what about for the people actually /working/ there? How do people move about in those spaces?
I'm an apple lover at heart, but I'm not going to lie about wanting to work in an office-type environment similar to that of Google's. Utilising different zones and 'break-out' spaces, categorising and theming different floors and offices with unique features to inspire the individuals inside is fundamental to keeping creative people on-the-go. There is Architecture in that, it's new, it's forward thinking and it's really radical.
Apple's however, its secretive and, though I know some of the mentioned above elements may be true (just no-one has seen much of the inside spaces, there never really has been a need to.) How do people move from one side to the other? What "clusters" fit together? Is there a hierarchy here? The team working on the design here were definitely focusing on making a piece which is timeless and iconic -- much like all of Apple's products and ecosystem in fact.
Stripping the companies from the buildings, though, if you do a little more research into the way these spaces have been made (regardless of what actual products they're trying to achieve are) the work environments inspire totally different things from their users and are inspiring and displaying very different approaches to work. This is what's fascinating to me.
Hardly. A company's building and layout is absolutely indicative of their culture and mentality. It tells you their level of openness, their acceptance to serendipitous encounters between groups and co-workers, and of course displays their aesthetic preferences. Not really comparable to phrenology, a discredited psudoscience.
Sure, but how does that translate into the real world? Google says "go ahead, explore your idea on company time, see what happens". I get the impression Apple would say "That's great that you have an idea, but we really need you focused on the development of the iPhone 6."
Disclaimer: I don't work at either company, so obviously I don't know first hand, I'm only inferring based on the stories I hear. I do know a few people who work(ed) at Apple.
I'd rather work at Google
I'd rather work at Google. If I had to get to a meeting in a another dept, I am confident that I could walk there as-the-bird-fliles, judging by that rendering.
The Apple building looks like it would be an endless long hallway, constantly counting the door numbers until you get to "red 11-A" and not "orange 11-A".
Square buildings may look dorky, but these various architectural stunts are a PITA to navigate.
I'd rather work at Google. If I had to get to a meeting in a another dept, I am confident that I could walk there as-the-bird-fliles, judging by that rendering.
The Apple building looks like it would be an endless long hallway, constantly counting the door numbers until you get to "red 11-A" and not "orange 11-A".
Square buildings may look dorky, but these various architectural stunts are a PITA to navigate.
Both circular buildings and both organisations highly secretive (dons tin foil hat and starts to develop an implausible and yet by its very nature, a plausible conspiracy theory).
It would be cool if there was a rounded square pathway or something in the middle courtyard at the Apple building. Then it would look like a giant home button from the sky!
Or you can walk across through the center, like any other building with a courtyard. At any rate, Apple's teams are kept largely isolated from one another, as part of their secrecy. If you work at Apple, you go to your part of the spaceship, and that's that. I'm sure related teams are close to each other, and mostly it's the high level executives that actually need to visit various areas in a given day.
And hey, let's not forget Apple's emphasis on video chat. I'm sure these people can easily fire up Messages or FaceTime if they have to.
Please tell me there'll be a giant circular travelator!!! People could hop on and off to get around the building or stop and chat while admiring the view around 360 degrees! They could have rest bars on it so people that want to stop don't get in the way of walkers...
That would be brilliant!!!
I find Apple's building to be harmonious, thoughtful and beautiful. A statement of purpose and longevity and of creating a utopian future. Google's is disjointed, jarring and disorganised like they don't really know where they're going or want to go.
That would be brilliant!!!
I find Apple's building to be harmonious, thoughtful and beautiful. A statement of purpose and longevity and of creating a utopian future. Google's is disjointed, jarring and disorganised like they don't really know where they're going or want to go.
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It may also help to keep in perspective that a nice looking workplace could be, but is not necessarily, an indicator of what it's like to work there.
I remember interviewing for a software engineering position, and being really impressed by the lab space I was being shown. The entrance to the lab was in a giant all-glass wall, with the company logo tastefully acid-etched into the panels. Inside, the lab was clean, brightly lit, wires were run cleanly, employees were smiling and watching "The Lord of the Rings" on a laptop while they were working.
I remember thinking "Wow, this is so nice, I could definitely work here".
Well, that company was Nortel. I think everyone knows how that one turned out.
I remember interviewing for a software engineering position, and being really impressed by the lab space I was being shown. The entrance to the lab was in a giant all-glass wall, with the company logo tastefully acid-etched into the panels. Inside, the lab was clean, brightly lit, wires were run cleanly, employees were smiling and watching "The Lord of the Rings" on a laptop while they were working.
I remember thinking "Wow, this is so nice, I could definitely work here".
Well, that company was Nortel. I think everyone knows how that one turned out.
Apple's campus is stupid, and makes not a lick of sense. Circular? With buildings on the perimeter? It's almost as if they want to separate their employees as much as possible.
And yes, I felt compelled to register just to post this. It's atrocious. They should level the courtyard and place a windowed tower in the center, they'd at least have a serviceable panopticon then.
And yes, I felt compelled to register just to post this. It's atrocious. They should level the courtyard and place a windowed tower in the center, they'd at least have a serviceable panopticon then.
Yes. It's a circle, so it has a center point. Which in this case, is missing.
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A really, really, really big circle.
Apple's campus is stupid, and makes not a lick of sense. Circular? With buildings on the perimeter? It's almost as if they want to separate their employees as much as possible.
And yes, I felt compelled to register just to post this. It's atrocious. They should level the courtyard and place a windowed tower in the center, they'd at least have a serviceable panopticon then.
Not a prison by function, it only employes similar visual cues and spacial organization. If anyone from the architect's office had these concerns about the architectural imagery, I doubt they'd have expressed them to Steve Jobs. They'd have walked out of that meeting with their head in their back pocket.
The real tragedy of this building is that it's retrograde as both architecture and land planning. It harkens back to the day when corporate campuses were monumental and isolated from the urban grid. This concept fell out of favor 30 years ago. It took Apple to revive it in such a big way.
But just think how nice it will look from the air.
I'm more intrigued by what the style of the renderings might have to say.
As others have mentioned, the Google drawings look like a Disney architectural rendering for one of their Value resorts (Pop Century and Art of Animation in particular). The intended audience is the end-users, "You'll have fun vacationing... uh, working here."
The Apple drawings take an inspirational approach, especially with that low-angle bright sun (cue the choir of angels). You could almost say the halo has a halo. I don't think it's aimed at the end-user in particular. The point is to inspire a feeling about the company that speaks to the public, investors, customers, Wall St. analysts, and city planning commission members. From the standpoint of the prospective or current employee, it's not whether the building will be a great place to work, but that Apple is a great company to work for, whether you work in the capitol building or the Ulaanbaatar retail store.
As others have mentioned, the Google drawings look like a Disney architectural rendering for one of their Value resorts (Pop Century and Art of Animation in particular). The intended audience is the end-users, "You'll have fun vacationing... uh, working here."
The Apple drawings take an inspirational approach, especially with that low-angle bright sun (cue the choir of angels). You could almost say the halo has a halo. I don't think it's aimed at the end-user in particular. The point is to inspire a feeling about the company that speaks to the public, investors, customers, Wall St. analysts, and city planning commission members. From the standpoint of the prospective or current employee, it's not whether the building will be a great place to work, but that Apple is a great company to work for, whether you work in the capitol building or the Ulaanbaatar retail store.
I think they both look great, but aesthetically Apple's iconic work of art will be the one that is remembered and have photos of if published in architecture magazines/sites everywhere.
I'd bet once these are both built, Google's building will be surrounded by parking lots, and Apple's will still have all the trees around it.
I'd bet once these are both built, Google's building will be surrounded by parking lots, and Apple's will still have all the trees around it.
So you're saying that everyone could be the next Leonardo DaVinci?
Not just anyone but everyone. Riiiiiggggghhhhtttt.
"Leonardo Da Vinci combined art and science and aesthetics and engineering, that kind of unity is needed once again."
- Ben Shneiderman
Why can't we all just get along?