Sam Oliver
When Apple's now-famous new campus opens next year, it will feature numerous parts created by the company's in-house design group and manufactured in a California factory built specifically for the project.
Jony Ive and his team are responsible for the design of the new building's precast "void slabs," according to The New Yorker. Each of the more than 4,000 pieces forms the floor, ceiling, and mechanical interstitial space of the building's four stories, and will be slotted together like a large puzzle after being made in a purpose-built factory just up the highway.
Last week, AppleInsider presented a video tour showing the first of these slabs being lined up and assembled into a foundational structure of the Spaceship Ring (below).
"We're assembling rather than building," Ive said of the project.
Ive has reportedly been intimately involved with the new building's details — �going so far as to prescribe a small curve where the floors meet the walls — and it's implied that he pushed famed British architect Sir Norman Foster for the job. Foster's firm is also handling the renovation and seismic retrofit of Ive's house in the tony Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco.
Ive praised the building's circular design, calling it "a remarkably pragmatic way of connecting the right groups," but the famous spaceship shape was not the first choice. The initial plan was "trilobal" — �something like a large Y, in which each stem is evenly spaced and of equal lengths.
Apple's industrial design team has also worked with Foster's group on the building's staircases, signage, and the design of the visitor center.
Ive seems somewhat melancholy when discussing the new building, recalling late Apple CEO Steve Jobs's contributions.
"This is something that Steve cared about passionately," Ive said. "There is a bittersweetness here, because this is obviously about the future, but every time I come here it makes me think of the past as well— and just the sadness. I just wish he could have seen it."
Once complete, Ive's group will occupy some 30,000 square feet on the interior portion of the building's top floor. Both the industrial design and human interface teams will share the space.
Oliver Haslam
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Sponsored Content
Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
43 Comments
[QUOTE]"This is something that Steve cared about passionately," Ive said. "There is a bittersweetness here, because this is obviously about the future, but every time I come here it makes me think of the past as well--and just the sadness. I just wish he could have seen it."[/QUOTE] This makes me really sad too. I wish Steve was here to see it too. :(
Something came to mind this morning.
In 1971, someone commented to Mike Vance (creative director of Walt Disney Studios at the time) "Isn't it too bad Walt Disney didn't live to see this?" (referring to Walt Disney World)
"He did see it." Vance replied simply. "That's why it's here."
I imagine the same applies to Jobs. It's his vision still driving the project.
Something came to mind this morning.
In 1971, someone commented to Mike Vance (creative director of Walt Disney Studios at the time) "Isn't it too bad Walt Disney didn't live to see this?" (referring to Walt Disney World)
"He did see it." Vance replied simply. "That's why it's here."
I imagine the same applies to Jobs. It's his vision still driving the project.
Yes, it exists because of his vision. But massive credit has to go to those who followed Steve, as they easily had the power to compromise, corrupt, and destroy that vision. They did not, not for the HQ, not for the company, and not for the products. They have been able to greatly improve and expand Apple's products and influence, while remaining true to the same guiding principles. That's not an easy feat. It was brilliant of SJ to appoint Tim as his successor, as I truly believe the company would have fared much worse under anyone else, including anyone from Apple's executive team. Tim has the pragmatism, the humility, character, and the wisdom to make things work and keep everything on the right track, when where there is no track so to speak. Tim isn't the next Jobs, but he's the next best thing- he's someone who knows how to run a company, is insightful about the future, ambitious, and knows and get everyone to do their best possible work.
Something came to mind this morning.
In 1971, someone commented to Mike Vance (creative director of Walt Disney Studios at the time) "Isn't it too bad Walt Disney didn't live to see this?" (referring to Walt Disney World)
"He did see it." Vance replied simply. "That's why it's here."
I imagine the same applies to Jobs. It's his vision still driving the project.
Lovely post.
I like the new campus. I hate skyscrapers. I remember Steve Jobs commenting on the new campus, saying how it was on a human scale because of the lowness. I wish the world as a whole would move away from high buildings and start building low, on a human scale. Nothing would please me more than to see every single skyscraper blown up to kingdom come (with no-one in them).
Very well put. Totally agree.