When is a lobby more than just a lobby?

Autodesk, my employer, has recently unveiled a new lobby/museum in a San Francisco office building. Fortune magazine, in this story and this video, features the $10 million Autodesk Gallery and describes it as an "awesome how-things-are-made museum".

What does this have to do with Allston? Last year Harvard touted the 6,800 sq ft atrium in its Science Complex as one of the major public spaces in the 4-building complex. The opportunity to walk through Harvard's atrium didn't strike me as all that impressive, but maybe Harvard will surprise us and make a space at least as awesome as what Autodesk has built.