With a footprint estimated as 2.8 million square feet, and a budget said to be approaching $5 billion, Apple's new corporate campus is certain to make a statement. But as investors grow restless over falling share prices, just what will it say?
Apple's second campus may be Steve Jobs's final product. But will the massive, circular building designed by Foster + Partners be his last failure or success? Peter Burrows examines the building's ambitious sustainability plans, questionable design, and the reasons behind its enormous price tag.
"Few architects will publicly question the judgment of Jobs and Foster, but many privately snicker at the doughnut-shaped design. At a time when Google (GOOG), Facebook (FB), and others favor floor plans that promote as many chance meetings as possible—a Jobsian virtue—the circle could isolate people and teams. A circle does not allow for much flexibility."
"Aesthetics seem to trump productivity, says Scott Wyatt, a managing partner at NBBJ, a Seattle-based architecture firm that’s designing offices in the region for Google and Samsung. 'I would be concerned that it would be alienating, as opposed to convening.' Rather than making it a great place to work, Wyatt says, 'it seems more like an object, just like the iPhone is an object.'”
Read the full story: Inside Apple's Plans for Its Futuristic, $5 Billion Headquarters
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
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SEPTA to bring nearby frequent transit to over 1 million new riders as part of decade-long plan
The agency's Accelerate plan will also bring frequent transit to twice the amount of jobs that are currently located near it.
NYC plants over 18,000 trees, the most new foliage in a decade
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New bill requires California data center developers to create water scarcity plans
Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed 7 bills intended to give California communities more information about the impact of proposed data centers.
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Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
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KFH Group Inc.
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