- [Narrator] This footage shows
the last public appearance of Steve Jobs. Four months before his death, he speaks to the Cupertino City Council to reveal one final project. - Apple's grown like a weed and as you know, we've always been in Cupertino, started
in a little office park and eventually got the
buildings we are in now at the corner of De Anza and 280. - [Narrator] The previous
so-called Apple Campus was no longer big enough for the growing company. The buildings constructed
in 1993 are arranged along a circular private
road, Infinite Loop, named after a programming term for a code that will
run endlessly by itself. In order to cope with the growing number of employees, the company
started acquiring more and more buildings in the area. Eventually, Apple was
operating out of a chaotic mix of buildings that were originally developed entirely
separately from one another and are by no means ideal for a coherent office headquarters. - So, we're renting buildings, not very good buildings either (audience laughs) at an ever greater radius from our campus. And it's clear that we
need to build a new campus. - [Narrator] The plan was not
to abandon the existing campus at Infinite Loop but to expand it with
a larger, modern one. Apple was able to acquire a large piece of land that is not only located nearby but also sits directly on Interstate 280, which runs through the
entire Silicon Valley offering good accessibility for employees. A large part of this area was for sale because the computer company Hewlett and Packard
closed their offices here. And Steve Jobs personally came full circle by acquiring this site as it
was somewhat personal to him. - I, when I was 13, I think I called up Hewlett and Packard were my idols and I called up Bill Hewlett 'cause he lived in Palo Alto and he picked up the phone and I talked to him and I asked him if he'd gimme some spare parts for something I was building
called a frequency counter. And he did. But in addition to that, he gave me something way more important. He gave me a job that
summer, a summer job, at Hewlett-Packard right here on in Santa Clara off 280, the division that built frequency counters and I was in heaven. Well, right around that
exact moment in time Hewlett and Packard
themselves were walking on some property over here
in Cupertino in Pruneridge and they ended up buying it and they built their computer
systems division there. And as Hewlett Packard
has been shrinking lately, they decided to sell that
property and we bought it. (calm instrumental music) - [Narrator] Apple hired the design studio Foster and Partners by British
architect Norman Foster, one of the most influential
contemporary architects in the world. Foster's career initially took off in the 1970s when he made his name by creating machine influence buildings that borrowed industrial design elements for a modernist look. Over the decades, his style has evolved and his newer buildings
feature less harsh elements but an evolving modern aesthetic. His buildings display a
functional modernity, a good fit as his design approach is akin to Apple's own product philosophy. In designing the new Apple campus, Foster worked closely with Steve Jobs, who had a very personal
vision for the project, and Jony Ive, then Apple's
Chief Design Officer, who having worked at
Apple since the late '90s was about as renowned in
the field of product design as Foster was in the
field of architecture. It was the beginning of
a special partnership of exceptional talents. - We've seen these office parks with lots of buildings and they get
pretty boring pretty fast, so we'd like to do
something better than that. And the campus we'd like to build there is one building that holds 12,000 people. (upbeat instrumental music) - [Narrator] The final
complex is called Apple Park and it is characterized
by its centerpiece, a single ring shaped building
surrounded by vast parkland. And while the campus itself is the result of a unique collaboration,
the building is designed to enable exactly these
types of collaborations. The parks should invite
employees who may work in completely different parts of the building to cross
paths and exchange ideas. The circular building is
divided into nine sections, each connected by a light-filled atrium. And although the building as a whole offers an
enormous amount of space due to the ring shape, it
is not overwhelmingly large at any individual point. Within the individual segments, walkways lead around the building along the outer and inner rims. These walkways are separated
from the outside only by a continuous wall made of glass that stretches from
the floor to the ceiling, allowing a panoramic
view of the surroundings. Apple claims that these are
the largest curved glass panels used in any building to
date and sticking out from the facade are white
canopies positioned to cast shade at the interior hallways. In addition, these elements are also part of the building's active
ventilation system, bringing fresh air in from the outside. The office space is also kept very open with glass walls laying
out an open pot design. In this concept, the
employees are given access to a large open floor plan
where they can self locate to available desks. This layout should increase collaboration and is inspired by co-working
spaces and college campuses. But this vision of a modern
working environment clashes with reality in many places. There are reports that some of Apple's employees
dislike the open pot concept with programmers struggling to concentrate in this new setup. Another place where
employees come together is the central cafeteria. It is a single lunchroom for the entire building. Delight filled space
that rises from the floor to the roof offering a
massive open room is intended as yet another meeting space. And along the outer wall, there are two giant glass
doors that can be open to allow the interior of the
building to flow seamlessly into the exterior landscape. When it came to the design of the parks, it was important to Steve Jobs that the landscape is a reflection of the California landscape
he grew up around. The new campus is not only
close to the previous campus but also not far from where
everything started for Jobs. His childhood home where he assembled the
first Apple computers together with Steve Wozniak in 1976. More than 30 years later, in addition to the immense global influence
the company has exerted, Apple has also become a fundamental part of the local environment in
which Steve Jobs grew up, not only as one of the largest tenants in the area and as a large employer but also as the city's biggest taxpayer. The company that once started in a garage here had transformed
the entire neighborhood. The parks at the new campus therefore had to celebrate
the local environment and Steve Jobs wanted them to be based on nearby Stanford University. Jobs appreciated the
park layout here designed by Frederick Law Olmsted,
who is considered the founder of American landscape architecture. Steve Jobs also appreciated
the extensive hiking trails that surrounded the Stanford dish right behind the university. For the design of the parks, reclaimed landscape architect Laurie Olin was hired who relocated to
Palo Alto for four months in order to get a real feel
for the local environment. His park design is a representation of the California landscape. On one hand, there is
a wide meadow extending from the building, which
can be used for events and resembles campus parkland
at Stanford University. There are also two
freestanding cafes here. Adjacent behind are several
rows of an orchard containing over 800 fruit trees
referencing the bay area's countless food plantations. And then there is this manmade pond again referencing the waters
of the surrounding area, which enable all the greenery to exist. California's two largest rivers flow all across the state until they
ultimately meet right here in the Bay area before
flowing into the ocean. It is a fascinating piece of landscape architecture
that symbolically reflects this unique
region of the country. And all of this is
surrounded by different types of oak trees that structure
the landscape both inside and outside of the building, creating a natural feeling parkland that connects the different parts of the building with pathways. For the planting of the trees, Apple hired the arborist, Dave Muffly who had previously
planted the Stanford dish that jobs wanted to replicate. - [Steve] Today about 20%
of the space is landscaping. Most of it is a big asphalt parking lot. We want to completely change
this and we want to make 80% of it landscape. And the way we're gonna do this is we're gonna put the most
of the parking underground - [Narrator] Accessible
through these tunnels is the underground parking garage, which was custom designed with the same level of
detail as the main building. Jony Ive's design team created
a custom signage system with the information displayed in wide frames attached
to the curved walls and the traffic lights
are arranged horizontally and reference the icons in the corner of applications
in Apple's operating system. But because the underground
space is not quite enough, Apple also had to build
two parking garages at the southern end of the campus. Located in the top left corner is the Apple Park Fitness Center. On the outside, there are facilities for team sports like volleyball,
basketball, and soccer. While inside there is is a
full fitness studio accessible to Apple employees only. (calm instrumental music) Located on the other side of the park is a building
that regularly is open for outsiders, during Apple's press events
at the Steve Jobs Theater. However, only the entrance
pavilion is visible above ground because the actual auditorium itself is completely underground. The theater is used for the presentation of new products by the company
and can seat 1,000 people. The award-winning pavilion
above ground stands out for the fact that there
are no support columns. The roof is made of a
light carbon fiber panel and the entire structural
load is carried directly by the glass. It's the largest structure in the world that is
solely supported by glass and the electrical wiring and sprinkler pipes are completely hidden along the thin silicon joints between the curved glass panels. Inside, there is a glass
spiral elevator that rotates in such a way that only
one door is necessary. It is just one out of countless details that
were specifically created such as custom designed
elevator buttons, door handles or even specially designed
pizza boxes for the cafe which Apple even patented. (calm instrumental music) Apple Park is a space with no compromises but implementing the idea of a collaborative space
so radically led to issues for cases where the reality
required different setups. With the needs of certain teams not
matching that overall vision. Apple had to build separate buildings for research and development departments. These are departments
where confidentiality is especially important and the resulting building doesn't follow the open transparent idea of the main building. The roofs are filled with AC
ventilation shafts instead of solar panels as present
on the rest of the campus. The offices are also arranged
in a more traditional way instead of the open concept and surface level parking is available in front of the rectangular office towers. The magnificent round building
is by no means sufficient for Apple. And instead of using the
large space effectively, new buildings are built nearby with less ambitious design approaches. - [Steve] And, it's
pretty amazing building. It's a little like a
spaceship landed. (laughs) (calm instrumental music) - [Narrator] Perhaps Steve Jobs comparison of the building with a spaceship applies to much more than its visual appearance. Apple Park is an uncompromising attempt to create an isolated island
that bears little relation to the life and troubles of the adjacent streets and communities. Apple operates its own private bus service to shuttle employees through
the congested Silicon Valley. The company also operates its
own private medical centers in Cupertino exclusively for employees. While Apple's attempt to
create an isolated environment for its employees is rife with benefits, it might be even more forward thinking if the company had
instead created a campus in an environment where interaction with local businesses is encouraged, where environmentally
friendly short commutes would be possible and where the success of their campus could rub
off on the environment and integrate into modern
city planning solutions. Perhaps the goal wasn't to
create the most practical campus but rather to create a building
that embodies some form of perfection that is
intended to set standards within the company and
display the approach for how the company should
develop its products. More than anything, Steve
Jobs approached this campus not as an architect or
a productivity expert but as a storyteller aware of the power a well told
story has to inspire. - [Steve] I think we do have a shot of building the best office building in the world, and I really do
think architecture students will come here to see this. - [Narrator] It shows that architecture can do many different things and while this massive
building is made to symbolize and nurture a specific design approach, in my next video, I will look at a very,
very different piece of real estate as I will be
exploring the Las Vegas Strip. Similar to this video, I have mapped out the area in 3D and
I will be exploring how two companies alone have secured control over a large part of the
casino business in Las Vegas. The video will go live on
YouTube in a couple of weeks but you can already watch
it right now on Nebula where I'll be posting all my videos first. Now here's what's really
exciting about this. Nebula is not some
sponsor that reached out. It is a streaming service, I am building together with
other YouTubers and podcasters and what started as a small
passion project has turned into a massive success that
allows us to create way more ambitious projects
than we could on YouTube. - [Narrator 2] The Nighthawk
carried no defenses. - I don't like the red.
- Why? - I would get this in gray.
- What? - I know. - [Narrator] Special
forces rated the compound. - [News Reporter] Russian
soldiers began massing up on the border with Ukraine. - [Narrator] If you sign up using my link on screen right now you will get a $10 discount a year which means it will cost
you only $3.33 each month. That way you will support
the ambitious project that me and my friends have embarked on of building our very own streaming site. Thank you so much for watching.
Dang, that's an insane amount of detail and work that went into the Apple HQ.
Love his channel. He puts out really high quality
His points at 15:30 are my biggest complaint. I want Silicon Valley giants to contribute to towards creating great communities. Not islands where the "masses" are excluded. If communities like Cupertino don't want to participate, they should relocate.
I remember when this was getting built and following all the various youtubers who were flying drones overhead to track the progress. It was really exciting at the time!
Like the techie pentagon, where our overlords live
One complaint of people that work there is that you walk forever to get to a restroom no matter where you are in the building.
Lots of focus on the “open office” stuff. Different groups (including the ones that get referenced later on) have different spaces that are appropriate for what they’re doing.
Yes, there are some areas with open seating, but the building isn’t a giant honeycomb of identical areas with empty workspaces taking up all the space. The place is a lot more functional and a lot less dystopian than what’s implied.
I would rather work from home.
i wanna work at apple so bad