In an ever-more virtual world, filled with people who cling dumbly to their smartphones, how strange that real-life architecture is becoming part of the tech world’s brand.
Apple’s immaculate glass doughnut is one example. Facebook’s single-floor garden-topped extravaganza — designed by Frank Gehry, no less! — is another. Google is planning a futuristic campus of its own in Mountain View. And when the big players set the tone, the wannabes fall into line, eager to make a good first impression in a culturally fluid environment where the only constant is that everything is in flux.
Never mind that 20 years ago, Apple flirted with bankruptcy. Google didn’t exist. Mark Zuckerberg was networking his dad’s home and office computers. Corporate monuments today are being conceived with an eye on tomorrow — even if tomorrow is an unknowable future.