Futuristic "Apple City" Planned for Cupertino

[Paul Daniel Ash]

Apple has been working secretly with the world-renowned designer of the Hong Kong International Airport on the design of its new campus in Cupertino, according to a business publication in Spain. El Economista [googletrans] profiles "Apple City," which has been designed by Norman Foster - who also worked on the design of all-solar Masdar City in Abu Dhabi - to be at the cutting edge of energy efficiency and sustainability, and will feature a network of tunnels underground instead of roads connecting the buildings.

The design process has reportedly been going on for months, but Apple just bought a disused 98-acre parcel of land from Hewlett-Packard for the new Apple City, right next to 50 acres the company bought back in 2006. The company is outgrowing its current headquarters at One Infinite Loop, Apple spokesman Steve Dowling told the San Jose Mercury News, saying "we now occupy 57 buildings in Cupertino and our campus is bursting at the seams." The acquisition of the new plot of land will allow the project to go forward.

Apple City reportedly takes a lot of elements from the Foster + Partners design of Masdar City, which is being built from the ground up to be carbon-neutral and zero waste, with no cars allowed inside the city walls and personal rapid transit "pods" to take everyone around. Apple City will also be car-free, with all buildings connected by tunnels. In addition to giving employees an easier way around the 146-acre campus, which is split by Pruneridge Avenue and Interstate 280, the tunnels will also eliminate all roads and parking lots on the surface. "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," El Economista's report says.

Source: 9to5Mac

[StealthBravo]

Whoa.

I would love to take a tour of that place!

[Infeneon]

Excellent, another way to put some good use to the $25+ million dollars just sitting there.

[zoso10]

That would be a place where you could spend hours just looking at the outside before you even go in. Knowing Apple to spend so much time on aesthetics, and they have a legit designer helping.

[whereswaldo]

this sounds like that giant tokyo bay city. But an even lower chance of happening

[athleticswimmer]

I bet 24 hrs is not even enough to walk around the whole palace (yes I said palace)

[iZoom]

they should call it iCity or iTown

[StealthBravo]

iAm ready to visit

[athleticswimmer]

iAm ready to visit

yea me 2, just let me get my ipod touch and ipad and macbook pro (just incase I get lonely)

[Lombardo Joe]

I'm no engineer, but that thing looks like one minor earthquake could break allll that pretty glass.

Regardless, I'd absolutely love to see it. Something like this would be one of those things Jobs himself only calls shots on. And we all know how his imagination is.

[bobright]

Thats freaking nice

[Laz730]

Damn thats gonna be a SICK *** place!!!

[awesomeSlayer]

HOLY ****!

Now, which room does Steve Jobs lives in?

[farfromovin]

146 acres just smothered in WiFi, nice! I can just imagine how ridiculous that place would be on the inside too. The carbon neutral and zero waste goals are pretty nice too. I like it.

[ro0oney]

nice. so if u have any apple product, do u get to have a free tour? i would love it if that was the case tho i doubt it.. obviously

[StealthBravo]

They should add theme park rides

[orsm6]

25 mil?? maybe $250mil lol

[cory]

Finally a Disney Land for Geeks!!! I wonder if they will turn all the rules for the App Stores into magic mountain...

[Darkflame]

I can see little buzzing robots running around with flashing lights and sirens screaming "Android alert! Android Alert!" followed by the entire city submersing underground and steel shades encasing every piece of glass the minute an android user gets with 100 yards of that place.

[piston597]

Ya this will be made in how many years? But on the bright side this place seems great and futuristic... I really wanna check it out when it gets done, (do they let people check it out?)