Amazon enters tech’s architecture wars with ‘plant-rich’ building

Not one to be outdone, Amazon.com has become the latest tech giant to reveal plans for new, outlandish headquarters.

The online retailer wants to literally bring the “Amazon” to downtown Seattle with a building that features three glass-dome, greenhouse-like structures capable of housing “mature trees,” according to the plans the company filed with the city.

Amazon said it believes a park-like and plant-rich environment would provide its employees with many positives “that are not often found in a typical office setting.” You can check out images of the design on the city’s website.

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The planned Amazon building is visually stunning, but it’s only the latest design in a growing architectural arms race between many rivals in the tech industry.

Apple, for example, plans on building an expansion to its headquarters that looks as if a UFO landed in Cupertino, Calif. Nvidia, a chip-maker, also has designs for a new complex that would feature two, spaceship-like triangular buildings that are meant to resemble parts used in computer graphic chips.

Google and Facebook, meanwhile, are planning on building new complexes complete with roof gardens and rectangular and irregular shaped buildings. Samsung, too, is jumping in on the green movement, with a new facility planned for San Jose that will feature offices floors complete with open-air parks and some buildings that will be covered in greenery.

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