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Pixar Names Main Studio Building For Steve Jobs

Hugh Pickens writes "Jordan Kahn reports that the main building on Pixar's campus has been named in memory of Steve Jobs who actually played a big role in designing the building itself as CEO of Pixar. Pixar's campus design originally separated different employee disciplines into different buildings – one for computer scientists, another for animators, and a third building for everybody else. But according to Jobs' recent biography, the headquarters was to be a place that 'promoted encounters and unplanned collaborations.' Because Jobs was fanatic about unplanned collaborations, he envisioned a campus where these encounters could take place, and his design included a great atrium space that acts as a central hub for the campus. 'Steve's theory worked from day one,' says John Lasseter, Pixar's chief creative officer. 'I've never seen a building that promoted collaboration and creativity as well as this one.'"

13 of 71 comments (clear)

  1. Stephan Jobes was also honored by Spy+Handler · · Score: 4, Funny

    by Samsung, today they named their office Xerox machine after him.

  2. The building features an atrium... by bennomatic · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...otherwise known as a "walled garden".

    --
    The CB App. What's your 20?
  3. Doesn't matter by twmcneil · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I don't care what they name after him. His legacy will be the thermonuclear war dragging through the courts all over the world now that was started at his behest.

    --
    "The ferrets, they're every where I tell you!"
    1. Re:Doesn't matter by jasper160 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Apple has submitted a lawsuit claiming the name of building infringes on various trademarks and copyrights.

      --
      No good deed goes unpunished.
  4. Second chances by jeffmeden · · Score: 4, Insightful

    At first I thought to myself "I bet it's as ugly as that hideous boat" but after looking at the pictures of the inside and out, it is a very well done building that no doubt has seen a lot of success (Pixar, in case no one was keeping track, has a record of successful moviemaking completely untouchable by any other studio).

    This article is worth a read (plus the extra info linked therein), if for no other reason than the fact that so many offices in the US are hideously designed, constructed, and laid out but there is some sort of unwritten rule of corporate management at a lot of companies to the effect of "the uglier the better". This is hindering the evolution of work in the US, and ultimately hindering growth. Steve Jobs deserves credit for at least seeing the right way to do this.

  5. And New York renamed the Brooklyn Bridge... by Andy+Prough · · Score: 5, Funny

    ..."the Golden Gate Bridge", in honor of Apple Maps.

  6. Re:They named it *for* Steve Jobs? by Desler · · Score: 2

    What's the issue? "For" in this context means "in honor of". It's a perfectly valid usage. Grammar Nazi fail.

  7. Architecture as a Pattern Language by concealment · · Score: 5, Interesting

    We probably shouldn't forget how much of this idea originated in Christopher Alexander, who posited a "pattern language" for architecture based on the usage of spaces, not the intersection of structural needs. It turned architecture and even computer programming on their heads.

    1. Re:Architecture as a Pattern Language by DerekLyons · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I was about to say, the idea of designing buildings for collaboration is a fairly old one as such things go. I remember reading about it back in the early/mid 90's.

      But, Jobs' reality distortion field persists after his death... and now the idea will be embedded in the 'nets culture as Steve's.

  8. Re:Funny by ThatsMyNick · · Score: 2

    The problem is not about copying other's work. But copying other's work and claiming it as your own and even preventing every one else from adopting it. Even apple fanbois can recognize the hypocrisy.

  9. Re:Two Hugh Pickens Articles in Three Hours! by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 2

    First they name a building, or recognise a day in your honor.

    This is the inevitable prelude to destroying everything you'd ever done or stood for.

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
  10. Re:Man. All the Steve Jobs love. by UnknowingFool · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Um. Steve Jobs funded Pixar with his personal money for many years during the early years. He bought it from George Lucas who needed money for his divorce in 1983. For the next 11 years or so, Jobs put in his own money to keep the company running even though it wasn't profitable. It wasn't until after the 1995 IPO and Toy Story that Pixar was in the black. Naming a building after him doesn't seem like it's grand gesture in that regard.

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  11. Collaboration, yes, AND Concentration! by martyb · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The article suggests that ad hoc collaboration was important for their success.

    Not especially noted, though, and far more important in my mind, is that workers had their own "huts" where they could customize their work space to their liking and which provided isolation from distractions. This, to my mind, facilitates concentration.

    There are times when I want to bounce a problem off someone and get a fresh perspective. More frequently, though, I just want a few hours without interruption or distraction. A 2-minute question from a coworker can require me to take 20-30 minutes to get back into the zone and get my mind back around all the details that I am trying to sort out.

    Providing separate spaces for concentration and for collaboration is the key.