SeattleThe enormous orbs are constructed of glass pentagons held together with miles of steel and rebar but packed with lush tropical plant life, including epiphytes, rare begonias and a rhododendron normally only found at the top of a single mountain in the Philippines.

The Spheres, the new three-domed jungle of meeting and work space at the foot of Amazon’s headquarters in downtown Seattle, is both unlike any other office in the world—and yet similar to other spaces in the tech industry that showcase cutting-edge design.

From Apple’s new circular spaceship campus in Cupertino, California, to Facebook’s Frank Gehry-designed headquarters with its nine-acre rooftop park complete with teepee swing, to the coming Googleplex with its glass tent-like buildings, these innovators have been stepping