The 2,800-strong Facebook workforce has another reason to press the 'like' button: The social networking site has moved some of them into a 430,000 sq ft sprawling complex with a nine-acre roof garden in California, the mere sight of which could leave anyone out of breath – literally
New York: The 2,800-strong Facebook workforce has another reason to press the 'like' button: The social networking site has moved some of them into a 430,000 sq ft sprawling complex with a nine-acre roof garden in California, the mere sight of which could leave anyone out of breath – literally.
Designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, the new Facebook building, called MPK 20, houses sweeping murals and art installations.
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The works of about 15 local artists, including famous sculpture-maker Evan Shively, already adorn MPK 20 and more are to follow.
The roof of the new Facebook building, about 70 feet up, offers a winding walk through nine acres of greenery. This walkway sits above the marshlands of Menlo Park, California.
According to Gehry, the man who fashioned the sail-like silver walls of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the floating battleship that is the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao in northern Spain, "Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg wanted a space that was unassuming, matter-of-fact and cost effective".
"He did not want it overly designed," Gehry said in a statement. The interior is really just one giant space - a space designed to foster the free exchange of ideas.
"It reinforces our open and transparent culture," John Tenanes, Facebook's vice president of global real estate, was quoted as saying.
"It is a place where people can collaborate. You can pretty much see all the way down the building," Tenanes added.
Though it stands on the other side of an expressway, the new building is meant as an extension of the company's current headquarters.
A tunnel runs between the two - under the highway. One could traverse on foot, bicycle or tram from one side to the other."Our buildings are a kind of like an industrial canvas," Tenanes said.
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