You get the sense that this architect has not talked to very many of the people who would be spending a third of their life in the space he envisions. I'd take a grey cube farm over this any day of the week.
I mean, they don't need to. Their job isn't to make work more comfortable for the employees and/or make them more productive. It's slashing costs while still maintianing a facade of a desirable workplace.
That's why you see offices with giant empty slides in the lobby, treadmills with a laptop stand that are never used, hangout spaces your boss doesn't allow you to be in, et cetra. They're there to fool candidates and post posed pictures on the company website, nothing more.
Wow what a sad image of the corporation. I'm not about pretending massive businesses care about you (they don't) but not everything has to be a big facade to trick people.
I've worked in offices where people actually go to hang out spaces, and other useful places. Not everyone has a controlling boss like that, and most places that build these spaces likely don't have that sort of management.
