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New Facebook Headquarters

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13 pointswinanga9 comments

I honestly cannot imagine a worse place to work. Open space equals no privacy and no place to sit and consider difficult problems. I get a very childish, highschoolish sense from that video.

Also, where are the old people? I can assure you people over 30 have a good amount of experience and knowledge they can contribute to a business like that. It's through old people who say "Oh yes, this problem is exactly the same as they used to have in shipping goods on old trains, look in this book for the optimal answer, Brunel figured it out in 1840" that you can short circuit the learning process and gain an edge.

Or in simpler words, you gain perspective. The very thing that all the dotcoms are shouting about.

Indeed. My current place of employ has a similar open work space (granted, it looks less like an airport) and it's notably uncomfortable.

The idea that such a layout encourages "openness" and "communication" often doesn't work out, and instead promotes unsolicited shoulder-staring, frequent casual interruptions, and a generally distracting ambiance of sales calls, verbal outbursts, and coworkers' annoying habits. Headphones are my best friend here.

It's odd that you should mention the highschoolish sense of the space, because I notice the same in my own work environment, not only in aesthetic but in the way people conduct themselves and how the business itself has slowly come to be run. (This part is most likely coincidence, but your comment certainly struck a chord.)

The only thing I object to is the lack of privacy. In a cube, I am not distracted by outside motion. At those desks, it would be near impossible to get in the zone in a room that huge.

Creepy:

> "Notice: work areas subject to search"

http://www.techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/img_408...

Someone in the TC comments suggests that it's a joke. Perhaps it's to remind people of a search initiative?

I hope so! I thought that at first, but figured since the desks were so pristine -- it may be for serious.

Are the letters on the columns in that photograph used to navigate the office like a parking lot?

Harsh fluorescent lighting, open plan office, every desk looks the same. Who wouldn't want to work there?

that office space has zero personality

Modern take on the time tested productivity-maximizer: The sweat shop.

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