Welcome to the future! The Googleplex is coming, and it’s exactly how you imagined it: a bustling metropolis full of luscious parks, cyber cafés, public art, cycle paths and yoga classes … all encased in gargantuan glazed bubbles, naturally.
When Google’s Vice President of Real Estate David Radcliffe spoke of his company’s search for the ideal architects to work on the tech giant’s huge new campus, he described a global quest akin to the assembling of superheroes in The Avengers of design: “We scoured the world, looking for a special architect, who could really do something different… and we really got down to what we believed were the two best in class.”
Google’s “best in class” — Bjarke Ingels Group and Heatherwick Studio — were selected on strengths that Radcliffe hopes will bring a combination of qualities to the master plan, reflecting a multitude of ideas that could only come through a collaborative effort, rather than a single firm.
Heatherwick and Ingels. Via Dezeen
BIG was chosen for their experience in community-based projects, not to mention Bjarke Ingels’ singular penchant for marrying form with function, as in projects such as the part-building, part-snow-capped-mountainKoutalaki Ski Village. Second up, British architect Thomas Heatherwick was tapped for his “attention to human scale and beauty”, evident in projects such as the V&A Museum in Cape Town, a canny conversion of concrete silos into a cavernous cultural hub.
The resulting proposal possesses recognizable characteristics from each firm. The cascade of terraced blocks at the heart of the complex evokes images of BIG’s pixelated terrains, from the real — Mountain Dwellings in Copenhagen — to the conceptual, like the firm’s joyous LEGO towers model.
On the other hand, Google’s conspicuous prioritization of green space and landscape architecture has produced renders with echoes of Thomas Heatherwick’s portfolio, such as the fantastical forested park on Pier 55 in Manhattan and London’s infamous Garden Bridge.
The “big move” of the project, though, moves away from the usual domain of both architects: the dynamic duo have proposed a set of enormous, transparent membranes, draped across each micro-metropolis as a series of crystalline, climate-controlled tents. For those more apprehensive about Google’s global dominance, the vacuum-formed futurism embodied by these see-through skins might bring to mind the dystopian domes of Logan’s Run, or their real-world counterparts, the vast glazed edifices of Biosphere 2 in the deserts of Arizona.
Yet more optimistic precedents come from the more distant past: Heatherwick and Ingels appear to have taken inspiration from some heavyweight architectural theorists, with the tented structures bearing similarities to a plethora of historical projects by preeminent figures in the profession. For one thing, there are undeniable echoes of Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic domes, and clear references to Frei Otto’s tensile canopies, like those pulled taut over the facilities surrounding Munich’s 1972 Olympic Stadium.
Unsurprisingly given the prominent environmental drivers of Google’s brief, there are also strong links to icons of ecological architecture: the mammoth marquees channel the innovative engineering of Cedric Price’s London Zoo Aviary, while their bubble-wrapped skins more closely resemble the ETFE pillows of Grimshaw’s Eden Project biomes.
The primary motivation behind the use of these enormous glazed umbrellas appears to be a desire to break down the conventions of architectural containment within the complex, and the social boundaries they engender. Within these protected envelopes, atmospheric conditions can be controlled at the touch of a button, obviating the need for external walls and run-of-the-mill roofs. The resulting architecture is formally diminished, pared down to a series of open platforms, terraces, sweeping mezzanines and elevated pathways — all populated with a wholesome collection of joggers, cyclists, and yoga classes, of course.
One of the most encouraging aspects of the development lies in its capacity for cross-programming, and the comprehensive merging of public and private space: The complex is envisioned as a new neighborhood, through which anyone can stroll, regardless of whether they work for Google or not. This attempt to break down the barrier between the corporate world and the rest of us is admirable, standing in stark contrast to Norman Foster’s beautifully detailed but hermetically sealed Apple HQ, set to land in Cupertino in 2016.
© DBOX
BIG and Heatherwick’s Googleplex constitutes an intriguing blend of ideas from architectural history, combined with a radical new approach to the creative workspace typology. While its bubble-like wrapping will not sit comfortably with everyone, the programmatic diversity threaded throughout the development provides an intriguing suggestion of how the perpetual conflict between public and private realms might finally be resolved. Add to that an intense infusion of natural landscaping, and Google might just stand a chance of winning over those still wary of their omnipotent aura.
It’s hard to predict exactly how this brave new campus will affect this mega-corporation’s fortunes in the longer term, but it seems unlikely that their latest architectural adventure will have any adverse effect on the planet’s premier digital empire.
Hold on a moment while I google ‘world domination’…
Yours technologically,
All images courtesy of Google unless otherwise noted. Photos at top via BBC and Inhabitat.