In addition to the amazing Saarinen building, the road layout around it is very novel/strange.
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.3675458,-74.1708944,1368m/da...
Bell Labs Holmdel Complex (2019)
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Re: Bell Labs Holmdel Complex (2019)
#42I worked here - my first job in the US, via a contracting agency, for a few weeks until I totalled my then-girlfriend's car, broke my arm, and could no longer commute from Philadelphia. Worst programming job I ever had. My assigned task: change the constant that limited how many forwarding steps a phone could follow in one of their private telephone routing systems, from 32 to 64. That meant: change the macro/definit…
I would happily take a closet office over an open floorplan.
But commuting Philadelphia to Holmdel sounds absolutely awful.
Re: Bell Labs Holmdel Complex (2019)
#43Bell System buildings are the weirdest. There's art deco stuff like the St Paul MN central office, or the Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph building in downtown Denver, which is worth venturing into the lobby to see murals like "The Wings of Thought" and "The Crucible of Science" to industrial hulks like the Minneapolis main central office. There's a data center at 52nd and Zuni in Denver that's really 1960s. T…
I host a meetup there sometimes, it feel so Blade Runner run out of electric. https://www.meetup.com/futureofdata-princeton/
Re: Bell Labs Holmdel Complex (2019)
#44Was this office just built in the middle of nowhere? Where do people go for lunch? I’m not an expert on commercial buildings but it always seemed like immediate proximity to food, public transport, and other businesses is one of the most important factors of an office.
Re: Bell Labs Holmdel Complex (2019)
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
How do you figure? The model now has been tech companies for the last 15 years.
I can't speak for the previous commenter but it does seem there is a different character to the research work happening at FAANG-scale companies (which is still generally in service of their corporate strategy) vs the work that happened at Bell Labs back in the day (which was more abstract and less directly-commercializable). Bell Labs was more of a large team of brilliant researchers with ample resources to support…
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Re: Bell Labs Holmdel Complex (2019)
#46Was this office just built in the middle of nowhere? Where do people go for lunch? I’m not an expert on commercial buildings but it always seemed like immediate proximity to food, public transport, and other businesses is one of the most important factors of an office.
I don’t recall if they had a cafeteria, I would not be surprised if they did.
Many employees lived in Holmdel or close by. The schools definitely reflected it. Holmdel itself didn’t have any real commercial areas, nearby Hazlet did.
NJ transit trains were near-ish, but not close enough to walk.
Re: Bell Labs Holmdel Complex (2019)
#47Was this office just built in the middle of nowhere? Where do people go for lunch? I’m not an expert on commercial buildings but it always seemed like immediate proximity to food, public transport, and other businesses is one of the most important factors of an office.
probably had a caf there + bring a box from home (always hated that). IBM was really into that too, just build in the middle of nowhere. They still have two locations around where i live - almaden and bailey avenue, pretty intentionally isolated, not sure why - but it was a thing.
Re: Bell Labs Holmdel Complex (2019)
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
How do you figure? The model now has been tech companies for the last 15 years.
I can't speak for the previous commenter but it does seem there is a different character to the research work happening at FAANG-scale companies (which is still generally in service of their corporate strategy) vs the work that happened at Bell Labs back in the day (which was more abstract and less directly-commercializable). Bell Labs was more of a large team of brilliant researchers with ample resources to support…
> which was more abstract and less directly-commercializable
Related acecdote: Charles Townes described that after the invention of the maser, he had to make a case for Bell Labs to patent it, against some resistance. As he described it, the eventual winning phrase was: "Well, it could be used for telecomunication".
Re: Bell Labs Holmdel Complex (2019)
#49I think it’s fascinating how many people are enamored by how the building looks. To me, it’s horrifically ugly, just a giant glass rectangle on squat legs.
De gustibus non disputandum est, eh?
Re: Bell Labs Holmdel Complex (2019)
#50I think it’s fascinating how many people are enamored by how the building looks. To me, it’s horrifically ugly, just a giant glass rectangle on squat legs. De gustibus non disputandum est, eh?
Honestly, most people are really enamored by the interior, not the rather boring exterior. Especially when you compare it with warehouses crammed with desks that are modern open plan offices (sometimes spruced with color for trendier firms)