From the Metropolis Archives: Designing the First "Googleplex" Office
Originally published in July 2006, this article explores an early exemplar of tech workplaces: Clive Wilkinson Architects' design for Google's Mountain View HQ.
Author: Jade Chang
The Fabricator That Serves Manufacturing Needs of Behar and Newsom
A third-generation aluminum fabricator reinvents itself by opening up to design.
LED Bike Light Lights The Way for Design Start-Up Sparse
Colin Owen rides into the world of design entrepreneurship with a new bike light.
Hope Flows
Fantini draws upon its legacy to right a small part of the world’s water inequalities.
Form is Function
If eco-guilt can’t cure Americans of wantonly tossing plastic water bottles—we use more than 30 billion a year—then maybe we’ll be saved by style. And smarts. Enter the Square bottle, with its stainless steel walls, ergonomic handle, and top and…
Q&A: Artist David Schafer on The Analog-Digital Divide
Artists look at how 3D printing can be used to create abstracted works of fine art.
For This LA Duo, Design and Fabrication Go Hand in Hand
The Los Angeles–based collaborative combines digital expertise with a real affinity for the physical tools of making.
Dual Mode
An elegantly restored research library at UCLA brings the analog and digital worlds together.
Beyond Sin City
The Smith Center offers a new civic life, and an indigenous architectural style, for Las Vegas.
Michael Maltzan Puts His "Urban Mind" to Housing LA's Homeless
His work for the homeless in Los Angeles is a new paradigm for social housing.
Highway to Health: Ford's Future Cars Put Wellness First
Incorporating wireless technology into its newest cars, Ford prepared to roll out vehicles capable of monitoring everything from pollen counts to glucose levels.
Goodwill Mission
The designer Sami Hayek travels to remote villages in Mexico, engaging with local artisans to create a stunning new collection— and help preserve a way of life.
The Animator’s Chair
Designer Cory Grosser finds a way to update Walt Disney’s favorite lounger.
The Fifth-Annual Smart Environments Awards: Macquarie Bank
The creator of the Googleplex in Silicon Valley and the infamous ChiatDay offices continues his radical reinvention of the global workplace.
The View from There
A West Hollywood gallery is designed to capture the interest of passing drivers.
Cabin Upgrade
The Boy Scouts commission sustainable accommodations for a Catalina campground.
Mixing It Up
Working with a rotating group of artists and designers, the L.A.-based firm Commune relies on a gritty authenticity to create beautiful artifice.
Arabian Library
Richärd + Bauer Architecture—Scottsdale, Arizona
Behind the Scenery
It took a staggering number of animators, puppet makers, set builders, and art directors to bring the feature film Coraline to life in stop-motion. Along the way, they proved that this lo-fi approach to animation is a sophisticated feat of design.
Bringing Design to the Getty
The head of Getty’s new Department of Architecture and Design talks about the institute’s extensive collection, its future, and unrealized Southern California design.
