Apple Park: A Masterpiece Of Architecture

"ONE MORE THING" FROM STEVE JOBS

- Benjamin Kerry & Gavin Lenaghan

Steve Jobs might have passed away nearly six years ago, but his influence on Apple - and, by extension, the tech industry - has long lingered. A fantastic case in point is Apple Park - the Cupertino firm’s new “spaceship” corporate headquarters at which the “iPhone 8” - or “iPhone Edition,” as it could be called - is expected to be officially announced. Jobs was heavily influential on its design, which ties together many of the company’s firmly-held values.

PREPARATIONS FOR A SPACESHIP’S ARRIVAL

Jobs’ last public appearance before his death was in July 2011 - when, at a meeting with Cupertino City Council, he argued a case for the new headquarters. While construction of the premises did not start until 2013, Jobs had worked on the concept years before his death. He cited a need to consolidate his employees in a company that had “grown like a weed,” but also enthused about creating a landscape where nature and man-made structures would blur into each other.

Campuses used by other companies, he felt, were “pretty boring”; this one, however, would primarily feature a circular structure intended to hold 12,000 workers. “It’s a pretty amazing building,” he told the council, adding: “It’s a little like a spaceship landed.” Even more than that, like many of the products that he would regularly unveil with his trademark confidence at keynotes, it was also pitched as standard-bearing; potentially “the best office building in the world.”