According to the latest word to come from the rumor mill, Apple is considering hiring Norman Foster to design its new campus on the Cupertino land recently purchased from HP. Mr. Foster is know throughout the world for his striking architectural designs, including London’s “Gherkin.”
El Economista (English translation) reports that Apple is considering linking its current Cupertino campus with the new facility via underground tunnels so staff can move between the buildings without crossing streets or having to go outside. The new campus will apparently be designed to be environmentally friendly as well.
Foster’s “Gherkin” with a little Apple touch
Apple recently purchased some 98 acres of land in Cupertino from HP with plans to expand its headquarters office space. The new land sits along Wolfe Road and butts up against an Apple land purchase from 2006.
“We now occupy 57 buildings in Cupertino and our campus is bursting at the seams,” Apple corporate spokesperson Steve Dowling said. “These offices will give us more space for our employees as we continue to grow.”
Apple isn’t saying who it plans to hire for the new campus design, nor has it said when it expects to start construction. Until Apple makes an official announcement, word that Mr. Foster is working with the company should be considered an unconfirmed rumor.
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Jeff that graphic you used says that Apple is #1 with a bullet
I love Jeff’s graphic.
I also love the idea of Apple creating destination architecture for its campus. Beautiful buildings are something the whole community (and I mean the local community in this instance) can enjoy, and it’s one way that large corporations can give back to those communities that host them.
I wonder, though, if Apple is going to raze the existing buildings and other infrastructure that already exists on the property. I would guess the answer is yes, if they’re looking up high power architects.
Er…to many Londoners, that building does not resemble a bullet…
Unless Mr Foster has a more horizontal motif in mind, perhaps this is to be Apple’s statement to the competition.
“Roger” that
Is it just me or does the building look like the rocket ship in Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2th Century.
Oh, my.
Tunnels - oh, good. They wouldn’t want to have to walk out into that California weather (...he said snidely as he sat in Minneapolis). Will there be enough space in those tunnels for Jobs’ Benz?
it is 65? here in San Diego and 66? in Cupertino, so cold that we almost closed the schools for the day.
Seriously I am thinking that they want the tunnels because the freeway cuts through the properties. If so I would think that a pedestrian overpass would be cheaper. Either that or my first impression of the “gherkin” is correct and that it is the rocket from Beneath Planet of the Apes.” Hmmmm. Beneath Planet of the Apps?
Gherkin my eye. That’s a tribute to one man’s enormous ego.
AustinPowers link
That’s all I can say.
This thread is fun, but let us remember that Norman Foster has done some very interesting designs other than phallic symbols.
I agree with Harry. Also, the theme of tunnels, monolithic structures, corporate campuses (and to an extent even environmental sensitivity) all seem reminiscent of Rockefeller Center to me.
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