Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Remember when NPR frowned on big homes? Now they're super-excited about their own new 400,000 square-foot home with in-house chefs

2006:  Behind the Ever-Expanding American Dream House : NPR
Is it wealth? Is it greed? Or are there more subtle things going on?
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Another critic is John Halsey, president of the Peconic Land Trust, an organization that tries to protect open spaces and agricultural land. For Halsey, the "Big House" is all about the American lifestyle: how we live, what we drive, and how we fail to appreciate the finite nature of land and energy resources.

"Who needs 15,000-square-foot houses?" Halsey says. "I worry about the future of a culture and a society that has this extent of excess in it. I think there is a disconnect, and we are in a bubble. Somehow, we are just not experiencing the realities that the rest of the world is."
2013:  NPR Shows Off New Facility - FishbowlDC
NPR recently moved from Chinatown into its new 400,000 square-foot home on North Capitol, and they’re excited about it. Eager to show off the new facility, the organization offered a tour to members of the media Tuesday morning, starting with breakfast from their in-house chefs, along with some talking points from CEO Gary Knell, who outlined some impressive features of the space.

The goal in the new building was to have plenty of open space to promote collaboration, something that was difficult in the smaller, closed-office building NPR used to operate out of. The newsroom is a good example of this. Spreading 100,000 square feet over two floors, the entire room is open, with the second floor operating more like a balcony around the lower level.
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— The almost 800-person staff is extremely diverse, and they all are really glad the be in the new building.

The tour continued through the wellness center, which is capable of simple medical procedures, the fitness center, which is staffed by a trainer, and the cafe, which utilizes the same catering company as Google.

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