Mark Zuckerberg never saw Facebook as the kind of company that would commission a big-shot starchitect to build its new campus. It's a very popular thing to do in Silicon Valley, but Facebook was more interested in building a headquarters that was "unassuming, matter-of-fact and cost effective." When Frank Gehry, who is known for exactly none of those things, first offered to design the company's 430,000-square-foot complex, the Facebook founder actually turned him down. "We figured he would be very expensive and that would send the wrong signal about our culture," Zuckerberg revealed in a Facebook post this week.
But Gehry kept wooing Zuckerberg, who eventually caved. The starchitect made a few uncharacteristic offers, saying he would match any bid that another firm submitted. According to Zuckerberg: "It ended up costing us much less than any other major developments planned in Silicon Valley and taking way less time to build." The resulting building, however, is as far from "unassuming" as you can get. It is wildly colorful, and involves a temporary adult ballpoint.
Here's how Zuckerberg tells the story:
Here's what the new Facebook campus looks like:
· Mark Zuckerberg Praises Frank Gehry: "He's Very Efficient" [Arch Daily]
· First Look Inside the Frank Gehry-Designed Facebook Campus in Silicon Valley [Curbed National]
· Facebook's New Frank Gehry-Designed Office: High Line or Hobbit Walmart? [Curbed SF]
· All Facebook HQ coverage [Curbed National]
· All Frank Fucking Gehry posts [Curbed National]
· All Office Spaces posts [Curbed National]
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