大多数科技公司都占据着城郊绿树成荫的园区，但亚马逊是在西雅图市中心成长起来的，它的大部分创新活力都来自于大城市的地理位置。
这家大型在线零售商的新总部加倍重视其对城市参与的承诺，创造了一个由讲堂、广场和公共开放空间组成的社区，与西雅图现有的城市肌理无缝连接。
最具标志性的元素是由三个玻璃球组成的多层植物园，里面种植着来自五大洲的4万株高空云林植物。
Most technology companies occupy leafy campuses on the outskirts of urban areas, but Amazon has grown up in the center of Seattle and drawn much of its innovative energy from its big-city location. The giant online retailer’s new headquarters doubles down on its commitment to urban engagement, creating a neighborhood of buildings, plazas, and public open spaces that connects seamlessly with Seattle’s existing metropolitan fabric. The most iconic element is the trio of glass spheres housing a multi-level botanical garden filled with 40,000 plants taken from high-altitude cloud forests from five continents.
Spheres位于景观总部内，它就像是一座花园里的建筑。里面植物约有400种，其中一些在野外灭绝，其他的则相当罕见。为了选择、培育和管理这些植物，亚马逊聘请了之前曾在亚特兰大植物园工作的全职园艺师Ron Gagliardo。
这些植物将会随着时间的推移而进化，包括一棵名为Rubi的55英尺高的无花果树，一只40英尺长的澳大利亚蕨类植物，厄瓜多尔的兰花，以及肉食性猪笼草。
Set within the landscaped headquarters, the Spheres are a building in a garden and a garden in a building. The plants represent about 400 species, some of which are extinct in the wild and others are quite rare. To select, nurture, and curate the selection of plants, Amazon hired a full-time horticulturalist, Ron Gagliardo, who had previously worked at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. The collection of plants, which will evolve over time, includes a 55-foot-tall fig tree named Rubi, a 40-foot Australian fern, orchids from Ecuador, and carnivorous pitcher plants.
飞流直下的瀑布和一整面的绿色植物墙创造了丛林的感觉。为了保证所有的植物群都生长良好，球体内的气候在白天设置为72华氏度和60%的湿度，然后在晚上转变为55华氏度和90%的湿度。
67,000平方英尺的球体仅占亚马逊项目的2％，但还是可以吸引人们一起聚集到这里。对亚马逊的员工来说，他们提供了一系列会面、工作和用餐的场所——从木质板条的“鸟窝”，到配有长椅和椅子的露台。
Waterfalls and a pair of densely planted living walls create the sense of a jungle. To keep all of this flora happy, the climate in the Spheres is set at 72 degrees Fahrenheit and 60 percent humidity during the day, then shifts to 55 degrees and 90 percent humidity at night. The 67,000-square-foot Spheres represent just two percent of the Amazon project but serve as a magnet to bring people together. Open to Amazon employees, they offer a range of places to meet, work, and dine—from a wood-slatted “birds nest” to terraces with banquettes and chairs.
NBBJ architects与Magnusson Klemencic Associates的结构工程师以及NBBJ自己的设计团队合作，设计了一个由180个加长五角模块组成的钢架，灵感来自比利时数学家Eugene Charles Catalan的作品，由五个焊接拱门的点定义。当框架向两个方向弯曲时，透明低铁玻璃的窗格是平的。建筑底部的一根40万磅重的环形梁将重力、风和地震力从玻璃和钢制的外立面转移到下面楼层的混凝土柱和中心混凝土核心。这些领域将数学与有机、实用与诗意结合起来。
Working with structural engineers at Magnusson Klemencic Associates and NBBJ’s own design computation team, NBBJ architects devised a steel frame made of 180 elongated pentagonal modules inspired by the work of Belgian mathematician Eugene Charles Catalan and defined by the points of five welded arches. While the frame is curved in two directions, the panes of clear, low-iron glass are flat. A 400,000-pound ring beam at the base of the building transfers gravity, wind, and seismic forces from the glass-and-steel facade to concrete columns in the floors below and a central concrete core. The Spheres combine the mathematical and the organic, the pragmatic and the poetic.
平面图
剖面图
建筑师：NBBJ
地点：美国 华盛顿州 西雅图
面积：67000平方米
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