亞馬遜的新辦公樓,堪稱熱帶雨林

From the fourth floor of a striking rainforest-like conservatory built of glass and white steel in downtown Seattle, boss Jeff Bezos turned toward the top of his newest headquarters building to summon his favorite assistant.

亞馬遜最新總部坐落在西雅圖商業區，高達四層，是座熱帶雨林般的溫室建築，由玻璃和白色鋼筋建造而成，老闆傑夫·貝佐斯(Jeff Bezos)站在頂樓招呼員工。

In a proud little show on Monday for the media and dignitaries — which also doubled as product placement for Amazon's voice assistant — the world's richest man ordered out loud, symbolically: "Alexa, open The Spheres."

週一，貝佐斯爲媒體和官方開啓了一場微型秀，也是爲亞馬遜的產品語音助手打call，貝佐斯大聲地說：“Alexa，開啓蒼穹”

The domed structure is only steps away from the executive office tower where Bezos leads the online retail behemoth. It's part of the company's urban campus near downtown Seattle that is largely made up of unmarked office buildings where more than 40,000 people report to work.

這座圓形建築離貝佐斯的辦公室只有幾步遠，是亞馬遜公司靠近西雅圖商區的一部分，辦公樓特徵並不顯著，但是有超過4萬人在此工作。

The four-story Spheres structure from the outside looks like three connected glass orbs planted into the ground in a caterpillar shape. Lighting mimics a position near the equator, with 12 hours of shade and sun. During the day, the interior is maintained at 72 degrees with 60 percent humidity, to emulate a cloud forest ecosystem.

這座四層的圓形建築遠看像拔地而起的三個草堆做的毛毛蟲。光線像是從赤道發出來的，12小時光影太陽不停歇。白天，建築內部22度，溼度60%，仿照雲霧籠罩的密林生態系統。

Amazon's Amazonesque rainforest-like conservatory is now home to more than 40,000 plants from 50 countries on five continents. Its centerpiece is a 50-foot (15.2-meter) fig tree. Most plants will flower and some can yield fruit, though visitors must keep their hands off all plant life. About 90 percent of the plants were grown and tended to in a suburban greenhouse for years in anticipation for their permanent home in The Spheres.

亞馬遜雨林式的溫室辦公樓有來自五大洲50個國家超過4萬株的植物。中心是一棵高達15.2米的無花果樹。大多數樹都開花，有一些甚至會結果，但是遊客禁止觸碰植物。90%的植物都在郊區溫室種植多年，就是爲了能在亞馬遜的蒼穹落戶。

Though masked by nature, the sleek and minimalist "alternative work space" is also designed to make you forget you're at work, in a startup environment that is rumored to be aggressively demanding.

亞馬遜辦公樓以自然做裝飾，非常平整而簡約，這樣另類的工作空間就是爲了讓人忘記工作，畢竟在要求嚴苛的創業公司亞馬遜，這樣的設計別有用意。

"The idea is that we connect them with nature. We get them away from their normal desk environment so you don't see any desks or cubicles around," said Ron Gagliardo, Amazon's leading horticulturist.

亞馬遜首席園藝師羅·戈里亞多（Ron Gagliardo）說：“我們把工作環境和自然聯繫起來，讓大家遠離普通辦公桌，在這裏看不到辦公桌和小隔間。”

The corporate office space, however selfie-worthy, is already such a hit that the company had to create a reservation system to contain the flow of traffic for the time being. Employees will have to snag a reservation to get in but it's currently already booked out until April. The building has capacity for about 1,000 people but is more comfortable with about 800 at a time.

不管公司辦公區域的拍照價值有多大，都得建立預約系統以確保當前不會發生人員堵塞。員工要搶預約名額，眼下四月之前的都已經預約完了。這棟建築能容納1000員工，人數維持在800是最合適的。

Once inside, workers can use nooks with tables and chairs that can serve as a casual meeting space. Coffee breaks can be taken in a cafe and "picnic" area offering an interior reprieve from Seattle's unrelenting rainy season.

建築內部，員工可以用桌椅的邊角組成會議區域，咖啡時段可以去咖啡廳，也可以去“野餐區”，以避開西雅圖連綿不絕的雨季。

Critics have called the Spheres a vanity project, illustrating Seattle's sometimes strained relationship with its largest employer. The company's presence has changed the local economy and raised its cost of living — but none of that was on show at the unveiling of the Spheres.

評論人士說“蒼穹”毫無價值，西雅圖和亞馬遜的關係非常緊張。亞馬遜改變了當地經濟，使消費水平增加，這些在蒼穹的開幕式上都沒有提及。

Instead, Bezos received glowing praise from the governor, mayor and county officials for his recent commitments to the city's homelessness crisis plus a personal donation of $33 million to a scholarship foundation that helps immigrant youth in the country illegally.

但是西雅圖州長、市長和郡縣官員都對貝佐斯讚賞有加，貝佐斯剛對西雅圖流浪漢危機做出了一番饋贈，也以個人名義向某獎學金項目捐贈330萬美元，幫助非法移民西雅圖的年輕人。

Bezos was coy when asked by The Associated Press whether the company's much-anticipated second headquarters to be built in an undetermined U.S. city will have another statement building space like the Spheres, saying: "We'll see."

美聯社（The Associated Press）問貝佐斯，萬衆期待的亞馬遜第二總部是否會成爲其他城市的蒼穹，貝佐斯說：“可以期待一下。”