Overlooking the Oakland Estuary from Jack London Square, the office (currently shared with Sungevity, but shortly moving to Oakland's Uptown neighborhood) has the classic Bay Area startup trappings of open space, beanbag chairs, foosball, and ping-pong.
Today it's easy to take the familiar trappings of sci-fi – space rockets, ray guns, alien empires and more – for granted.
The cavernous void beneath, conceived of as an extension of the adjacent square, will be planted with all the trappings of a public space: lawns, trees, cafes, benches and paved areas that will be "activated" by a programme of events.
Allianz, the big insurer, will introduce an insurance product in 2012, lending space tourism the trappings of the regular travel industry.
It already sported the outward trappings of tech world success: an airy space in an old brick warehouse downtown, renovated with recycled wood and glass; a roomful of 20-somethings in fleece pullovers, their mountain bikes hanging from wall-mounted racks; and a hot new product.
My main memory of the centre was a space free of the trappings of the commercial scene.
My main memory of the center was a space free of the trappings of the commercial scene.
Ours is a republic that has long since taken on the trappings of a monarchy, with the president inhabiting rarified space as our king-emperor.
America has lost its bravery, Eggers tells us, and it can be found in nature, in open spaces, in shucking off the trappings of mall life and the media and consumerism.
To that end, Mr. Graham has forgone the trappings of an average clothing shop and constructed a circular space inspired by a Victorian lab, with mannequins that have ball-and-claw table legs and bear animal heads.
