Archinect - News

Apple is rumored to hire Foster to revamp its retail stores

2013-04-11T15:01:00-04:00

Sources close to the project said Foster + Partners... is helping Apple on the retail store design brief.

Bohlin Cywinski Jackson has reached out to us about an error in the cited article at Marketing Magazine...

The Regent Street and Fifth Avenue Apple Store were not designed by Eight Inc., but by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson. We also continue to have a very collaborative relationship with Apple Inc., and are fortunate to be working with their Retail Development Team on many new stores worldwide.

Apple trademarks design of its retail stores

2013-01-31T13:25:00-05:00

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Apple's request last week for trademarks on the minimalist design and layout of its retail outlets, the office's records show. The description of the trademarks includes "a clear glass storefront surrounded by a paneled facade" and, within the store, an "oblong table with stools...set below video screens flush mounted on the back wall."

Apple vs. Amazon: Whose new headquarters is cooler?

2012-09-20T19:00:00-04:00

I’m no architecture critic, but the word “iconic” keeps popping to mind. In an industry full of soulless suburban campuses, give Jeff Bezos & Co. credit for building this in the city, at least.

The geeks speak on two new planned tech campuses. Which one do you prefer?

"Confidential" architectural drawings of new Apple HQ leaked

2012-09-07T16:52:00-04:00

A reliable source provided us with some official blueprints for the Apple Campus 2 yesterday, and these are just a few of the images that illustrate the mammoth building currently being planned in Cupertino, Calif. A single one of these slides leaked out today, so we are putting these up now; we are resizing and still have to watermark.

Firms credited on the drawings include Foster and Parters, ARUP, OLIN and Davis Langdon.

Apple Continues Pushing Boundaries of Glass for Architectural Applications

2012-07-17T17:06:00-04:00

It's insane; the sides are made from a zigzagging yet continuous, seam-free piece of glass that looks to exceed 30 feet at its longest point.

Gov. Brown gives fast-track status to Apple headquarters

2012-07-03T17:26:00-04:00

"Apple's state-of-the art campus brings at least $100 million dollars in investment to California and generates no additional greenhouse gas emissions," Brown said in a statement to this newspaper, listing two of the requirements Apple had met to qualify under the law. "On-site fuel cells and 650,000 square feet of solar panels will provide clean, renewable energy for more than 12,000 Apple employees on the new campus."

Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer sends brochure to Cupertino neighbors inviting feedback on new ‘Campus 2′

2012-05-20T11:40:00-04:00

Campus 2, as it is currently called, will not replace the 1 Infinite Loop campus. Instead, it will provide “research facility” office space for an additional 13,000 employees, which is more than 3,000 than 1 Infinite Loop. There is also 300,000 feet of expansion space for future growth.

The scent of an Apple product, sourcing the Macbook Pro fragrance

2012-04-17T12:21:00-04:00

A distinctive scent can be observed when unwrapping a newly purchased Apple product from its packaging. Apple fans will certainly recognize this smell. The scent created for Greatest Hits encompasses the smell of the plastic wrap covering the box, printed ink on the cardboard, the smell of paper and plastic components within the box and of course the aluminum laptop which has come straight from the factory where it was assembled in China.

Designer Phillippe Starck Says He's Working On 'Revolutionary' Product With Apple

2012-04-13T13:47:00-04:00

The French designer Phillippe Starck said in a radio interview with France Info that he is working with Apple on a “revolutionary” new product that will be unveiled within the next 8 months. He gave no hint at what the product might be. He said he met regularly with former Apple CEO Steve Jobs before his death last October.

Inside Apple HQ

2012-04-06T19:38:00-04:00

Insiders call it the Mothership. It’s Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, and to Apple fans, it’s a place thought of with romance and wonder. Only the privileged elect have ever been deep within its most secretive recesses, but after an extensive search, I turned up more than 30 inside pictures that Apple probably doesn’t want you to see.

Wow, for all the effort put into Apple's product design, I would expect a little more for their workplace.

If you care about cities, return that new iPad

2012-03-15T17:20:00-04:00

Apple is actually taking a site that is now parking lots and low-rise boxes and making it worse for the community. Yes, it will be iconic, assuming you think a building shaped like a whitewall motorcycle tire is iconic, but it will reduce current street connectivity, seal off potential walking routes and, as I wrote some time back, essentially turn its back on its community. With a parking garage designed to hold over ten thousand cars, by the way.

Kaid Benfield, staff member at the Natural Resources Defense Council, slams Apple on it's proposed new HQ in Cupertino.

Before you run off to return your idevices, though, consider that the new Archinect iPhone app will be released shortly ;)

CLOG : APPLE Launches in NYC this Friday

2012-02-13T14:54:00-05:00

Here's a hot event for you New Yorkers this week: CLOG is officially launching its anticipated second issue, titled CLOG : APPLE, at Van Alen Books this Friday, February 17, 7pm.

CLOG : APPLE showcases over 50 international contributors, including architects, designers, cartoonists, comedians, engineers and other industry leaders. Highlights include an examination of Steve Jobs's Eichler-designed childhood home; the evolution of Apple's store designs; its leading role in innovative glass engineering; the symbolism and urban implications of the new Cupertino headquarters design; reactions to Apple Campus 2 by notable architects and critics; and an interview with one of Apple Computer's original three founders, Ronald Wayne.

Contributors include Michael Abrahamson, Paul Adamson, Gary Allen, Collin Anderson, Haik Avanian, Rachel Berger, Freek Bos, Gabrielle Brainard, Tom Brooksbank, Keith Burns, Marcus Carter, Haiko Cornelissen, Philippine d'Avout D'Auerstaedt, Erandi de Silva, Kevin Erickson, Matthew J. Giordano, Hanny Hindi, Julia van den Hout, Allyn Hughes, Alex Kilian, Klaus, Austin Kotting, Michael Kubo, Jimenez Lai, Nicholas Leahy, Christopher Lee, Fr...

The covert birth of Apple's next Santa Monica store

2011-12-09T13:58:00-05:00

... according to a person familiar with the plans who is bound by a nondisclosure agreement, Apple has already begun work on such a store in Santa Monica. Like the Peter Bohlin-designed Apple Store on New York's Upper West Side, it will have a tall, striking glass storefront...

The Santa Monica store episode also illustrates Apple's unusually covert way of doing business. Interviews with almost two dozen people familiar with Apple Store negotiations say the Cupertino, California, company sometimes employs uncommon legal tactics, refuses to name itself in public documents and hearings, and has sworn city government officials to secrecy.

Steve Jobs’s Real Genius

2011-11-07T14:47:00-05:00

As his life wound down, and cancer claimed his body, his great passion was designing Apple’s new, three-million-square-foot headquarters, in Cupertino. Jobs threw himself into the details. “Over and over he would come up with new concepts, sometimes entirely new shapes, and make them restart and provide more alternatives,” Isaacson writes. He was obsessed with glass, expanding on what he learned from the big panes in the Apple retail stores.

“There would not be a straight piece of glass in the building,” Isaacson writes. “All would be curved and seamlessly joined. . . . The planned center courtyard was eight hundred feet across (more than three typical city blocks, or almost the length of three football fields), and he showed it to me with overlays indicating how it could surround St. Peter’s Square in Rome.” The architects wanted the windows to open. Jobs said no. He “had never liked the idea of people being able to open things. ‘That would just allow people to screw things up.’ ”

Apple plans solar farm at data center site

2011-10-26T11:42:54-04:00

Permits issued by Catawba County show that the Cupertino, Calif., company has been approved to reshape the slope of some of the 171 acres of vacant land it owns on Startown Road, opposite the data center, in preparation of building a solar farm.

Steve Jobs, a Genius of Store Design, Too

2011-10-25T19:27:00-04:00

“The best clients, to my mind, don’t say that whatever you do is fine,” Mr. Bohlin said last week, a few days after Mr. Jobs’s death. “They’re intertwined in the process. When I look back, it’s hard to remember who had what thought when. That’s the best, most satisfying work, whether a large building or a house.”

Oh, look, Bohlin Cywinski is hiring.

RIP Steve Jobs

2011-10-05T19:59:05-04:00

The world is a little less interesting now.

Apple's new headquarters lacks vision

2011-09-13T12:24:40-04:00

Though the planned building has a futuristic gleam — Jobs told the council "it's a little like a spaceship landed" — in many ways it is a doggedly old-fashioned proposal, recalling the 1943 Pentagon building as well as much of the suburban corporate architecture of the 1960s and '70s. And though Apple has touted the new campus as green, its sprawling form and dependence on the car make a different argument.

Check this previous article for more information, images and comments from the community: Plans for new Apple HQ, by Norman Foster, officially released

Apple’s Designers Work Towards Storefront Symmetry

2011-08-31T20:31:08-04:00

There is seemingly no limit to the manipulations that Apple store designers will make to ensure that the various elements of construction are aligned and pleasing to the eye. What looks like a simple retail storefront is actually a carefully designed, measured and constructed assemblage of glass, cement, metal and stone whose edges correspond.

Is Steve Jobs the Model for a Revived Economy?

2011-08-30T18:22:19-04:00

Steve Jobs has the right name for what's missing in America's economy. Does he also represent the way back to prosperity? We look at his record at Apple and its influence in the US and around the world.

KCRW's "To the Point" addresses Steve Jobs' attention to innovation and integration of design into Apple's business model, and how that can improve the state of today's horrible job market.

Steve Jobs Resigns as Apple CEO

2011-08-24T19:26:36-04:00

Apple Inc.'s ailing chief executive Steve Jobs is officially stepping down from the helm of the company, an historic shift that hands the reins to chief operating officer Tim Cook. The company said Mr. Jobs submitted his resignation to the board of directors on Wednesday and "strongly recommended" that the board name Mr. Cook as his successor.

We hate to see you leave, Steve.

Plans for new Apple HQ, by Norman Foster, officially released

2011-08-15T11:05:17-04:00

If you love Apple and fine ingenious design as much as we do, you will be thrilled to hear that the beautiful, environmentally-aware Foster + Partners designed new Apple Campus is now one step closer to becoming a reality. The Cupertino City Council has just announced that Apple Inc. has submitted a development proposal for their new Apple Campus.

Apple Updating 5th Avenue Cube with New Glass Technology

2011-08-09T18:58:42-04:00

We've just discovered Apple will be updating their iconic Cube structure at their midtown Manhattan retail location, replacing the current cube of 90 panes with just 15 massive, and I mean massive, pieces of glass... The slabs will be roughly 10 feet wide by a whopping 32 feet high, and held together using some sort of secret, proprietary connector that will reportedly be embedded within the glass itself, rather than being comprised of mere external clips.

Foxconn will bring on 1 million robots in 3 years to replace workers

2011-08-01T11:24:27-04:00

Foxconn’s founder and chariman Terry Gou said the company will replace an unspecified amount workers with one million robots in three years. Foxconn is the Asian manufacturer that is responsible for many components inside of Apple, Sony, and Nokia’s devices.

For a related discussion check The Diminishing Returns of Technology.

OpenBuildings app now available on Android

2011-07-25T14:01:28-04:00

Our friends at OpenBuildings have just announced that their mobile app, already available for the iPhone, is now available for Android users. Go check it out explore the architecture around you!

New ideas for sustainable architecture in the Americas

2011-07-05T13:30:19-04:00

... in Rio de Janeiro, city officials are working with architects to integrate the notorious favelas with the rest of the city by new cable car lines and a walkway designed by famed architect Oscar Niemeyer designed. Rio's government and business community are also funding the Morar Carioca architectural competition that will hire 30 architects to build healthy homes, schools, and clinics for the city's poorest 200,000 residents.

Steve goes to the mayor (again)

2011-06-09T17:50:50-04:00

Maybe they just couldn’t come up with any questions. So here are a few: Can you confirm that the architect of the building is Norman Foster, like everyone’s reporting? Is Apple going to make the grounds open to the public so they can enjoy the fifty billion trees that he’ll be planting? Will there be any kind of programming in the new auditorium that can expose the next generation to careers in technology and science? Could you share your awesome private transit system with the public?

Alissa Walker, aka Gelatobaby, has penned a great piece in response to the highly circulated presentation of Apple's new headquarters to the Cupertino city council.

Also, our friends at OpenBuildings have posted a hilarious mashup of the event to YouTube.

Steve Jobs Proposes Spaceship-Shaped Cupertino Campus

2011-06-08T13:06:51-04:00

[Apple] has staff scattered in rented buildings throughout the city. The plan for the future campus puts 12,000 to 13,000 employees inside a single four-story oval building. Jobs made a convincing case for what he calls "a shot at building the best office building in the world." By moving parking underground, 80% of the 150-acre property will be landscaped. Apple has hired the lead arborist from Stanford to fill it with 6,000 trees, and the company will build its own energy center power source.

We assume this design is by Norman Foster, judging from the design and rendering style, but we don't have confirmation.

How Apple works: Inside the world's biggest startup

2011-05-09T18:39:21-04:00

From Steve Jobs down to the janitor: How America's most successful -- and most secretive -- big company really operates.

Norman Foster tapped to design new Apple campus

2010-12-06T12:05:34-05:00

The architect has some pretty incredible plans, including an underground tunnel system linking the two campuses (called it). In fact, the entire road transportation system will operate through a network of tunnels (tubes?) that will clear the surface areas for green. “The buildings which will house the engineers and R&D will also be multifunctional and will incorporate cutting-edge technology in materials and equipment as well as renewable energy resources,” according to the report.

Norman Foster has been selected to design the new Apple campus on HP's old campus which Apple recently purchased for $300m. Good choice!