Google's New Tel Aviv Office Design Is Totally Over the Top

In December, Google revealed images of their brand new office space in Tel Aviv, Israel. Occupying eight floors and 850,000 square feet in the Elektra Building with stunning views of the city, this ambitious office space boasts three restaurants (non-kosher, kosher dairy and kosher meat), and an entire floor dedicated to "Campus Tel Aviv," a new hub for entrepreneurs and developers that acts like a home base for start up companies. The entire campus was designed by Camenzind Evolution, in collaboration with Setter Architects and Studio Yaron Tal.

The most interesting thing about Google's Tel Aviv offices is how little space and emphasis is placed on the actual work or desk areas. The focus of this new design seems to be largely on the communal areas and lounges. Google has a practice of giving their employees 20 percent of their work hours (that's one full day a week) to spend on personal projects, which is when ideas like Gmail and Google News have come about, so maybe traditional office space really isn't that necessary at a company like theirs. But it also makes us wonder if having your physical work space be too artistic and too over-the-top-designed could actually impede an individual's output. Could a more minimal working environment actually foster more creative thought? What do you think—would working in a space like this inspire or hinder your creative energy?

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Images courtesy of Office Snapshots