What photos of Facebook’s new headquarters say about work
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What photos of Facebook’s new headquarters say about work
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Re: What photos of Facebook’s new headquarters say about work
#2My reaction on seeing that first pic is that it looks kind of horrible !
Re: What photos of Facebook’s new headquarters say about work
#3[deleted]
Re: What photos of Facebook’s new headquarters say about work
#4My reaction on seeing that first pic is that it looks kind of horrible !
I only quickly glanced at it and thought it was a sweatshop in Bangladesh; I then had to look again because that didn't seem to match the headline of the article or what I'd remembered clicking on from HN. I think it's possibly the ceiling (what is that?) or the things suspended from it that creates this impression (and it's probably an unflattering photograph), but honestly it looks like a perfect nightmare to me.
Re: What photos of Facebook’s new headquarters say about work
#5Nice mid-50s factory floor ambience there. I'm half-expecting a whistle to blow and a new shift to come and sit down at the production line.
Re: What photos of Facebook’s new headquarters say about work
#6My reaction on seeing that first pic is that it looks kind of horrible !
I only quickly glanced at it and thought it was a sweatshop in Bangladesh; I then had to look again because that didn't seem to match the headline of the article or what I'd remembered clicking on from HN. I think it's possibly the ceiling (what is that?) or the things suspended from it that creates this impression (and it's probably an unflattering photograph), but honestly it looks like a perfect nightmare to me.
That said, I think those are all Herman Miller chairs, so I guess that's something.
Re: What photos of Facebook’s new headquarters say about work
#7I'm always surprised to see the awful spaces these companies come up with in SV, having been to both FB and Goog's london offices, which are both very nice.
Re: What photos of Facebook’s new headquarters say about work
#8My reaction on seeing that first pic is that it looks kind of horrible !
Same here. I recently had the epiphany that there was definitely an deeply aestethic side in software development
which you would use to determine intuitively what a good design is, and since aesthetic is something you learn from your context, the environment you're evolving in has a direct influence on your ability to make good design ( something that designers in every field have known for a long time, of course).
Now imagine the kind of chaotic influence this messy office has on facebook code designers... My guess is that the best technologies aren't developped there.
Re: What photos of Facebook’s new headquarters say about work
#9It's interesting watching the juxtaposed trends of increased remote work and... this, in the tech sector. Clearly there is a trend away from "traditional" offices, but it appears to be moving in two fundamentally opposite directions at the same time.
Of course, both share one significant feature: cost savings compared to a more traditional office environment. I guess another similarity could be increased equality, although again, achieved in opposite manners: in one case, everyone gets to choose their own work environment, and in the other, everyone has an identical work environment. (Right down to a lack of personal effects in this case.) Still, the proponents of both approaches appear to believe they offer many other advantages. I wonder whether we'll see one or the other ultimately dominate.
Personally speaking, as the owner of a small, all-remote company, I vastly prefer the remote approach for my own quality of life. (Although I've certainly known people who prefer to go to an office every day.) As far as work output though, both remote work and open offices have advantages and disadvantages. Personally I can't stand the distractions being crammed in a room with a bunch of other developers, but at least being in the same building undoubtedly makes collaboration easier (not that it's impossible remotely). The company culture can definitely do a lot to make that sort of environment more pleasant too. (Things like avoiding noise pollution, and knowing when not to interrupt.) For me, even if I knew I could make more money by relocating everyone to an office, it wouldn't be worth it, but obviously that math would change a bit at Facebook scale.
Re: What photos of Facebook’s new headquarters say about work
#10Zuck may not technically have an office, but if it's anything like the other places I've worked where "the CEO sits right out in the open with everyone else!", then he probably has a conference room reserved for his use 24/7.
And this actually makes sense. A lot of what he would talk about would be insider information. You don't want to hear that as an employee.