The tech giant?s future home near a growing transit hub seeks to revitalize downtown San Jose Few building types have become as mythologized, meaningful, and, occasionally, mocked by the general public as corporate headquarters. Whether they?re anodyne rows of identical offices, glistening corporate campuses, or high-tech hubs for startups, the most famous become not just architecture, but narratives conveying corporate values.
That?s why many were disappointed to learn Apple?s new office in Cupertino, California, has more parking space than office space: It?s a disconnect from the company?s sleek, progressive (and curated) persona.
In Silicon Valley, it?s tempting to treat these physical representations of economic might as symbols of innovation and character (does the Amazon HQ2 race, pitting cities against each other, showcase the retail giant?s cold, calculating efficiency"). These headquarters are supposed to be glimpses of the future. This hunger for something new explains why a collection of land and former industrial lots in downtown San Jose, just 10 miles east of Apple?s glittering new campus, has attracted so much attention. Google, the new owner, has plans for something transformative.
The tech giant?s desire to continue its aggressive expansion in the area and build a new corporate village adjacent to Diridon Station, a decades-old rail station, isn?t important because of cutting-edge design: groundbreaking for the project won?t happen for years,...