It’s no surprise that the Facebook team would pick Frank Gehry, FAIA, to design its campus expansion. When you’re as big as Facebook, it’s only natural to go after a starchitect such as Gehry to design your new workspace.
Facebook’s environmental design manager Everett Katigbak posted to Facebook after meeting with Gehry. He wrote:
A few months ago, I flew down to Los Angeles to meet for the first time with Frank and his team. His office is a giant warehouse overflowing with handmade, wooden models juxtaposed with state-of-the-art architecture software (some of which is designed by Frank’s in-house team). His teams are filled with people who are unbelievably talented and love what they do. The whole thing reminded me of Facebook, so that when I met Frank, I already knew he was a perfect fit for us.
Similar to Gehry’s own office, the new building will resemble a warehouse with one large, open room. “Just like we do now, everyone will sit out in the open with desks that can be quickly shuffled around as teams form and break apart around projects,” Katigbak writes in his post. And don’t forget the cafés, couches, and brainstorming areas. The building will be as minimalist on the outside as on the inside—an unfinished, eco-friendly structure surrounded by trees and topped off with a wall-to-wall rooftop garden.
Facebook will continue to operate out of its current campus in Menlo Park, Calif., and employees will be able to move between the two buildings through an underground tunnel.
Facebook fans, it seems, approve of Gehry’s design: The post already has more than 500 likes.
