Facebook Wants Frank Gehry to Design a "More Anonymous" Headquarters

The company said the initial plans were too "flashy."

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg commissioned famed architect Frank Gehry to design the company's new 40,000-square-metre Silicon Valley campus expansion. However, Gehry was asked to "tone down" his plans for the renovation. The proposal for the campus that was approved Menlo Park City Council last week detailed a curving facade similar to the one at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Facebook didn't like it.

A partner at Gehry's firm said the design was deemed "too flashy" and not in conjunction with the culture of Facebook. The design firm was told to make it more "anonymous." The plan is now to disguise the white stucco building by placing a rooftop garden on top of it. Renovations are also intended to make the facility more employee friendly. "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," according to Facebook's environmental design manager Everett Katigbak.

Gehry was hired by Google last summer to perform his magic. Mark Zuckerberg said he wanted an office with "the largest open floor plan in the world."

[via Dezeen]

Latest in Style