Newly released development plans of Apple’s proposed corporate campus, which will look like a galactic portal and will be bigger than the Pentagon, hint at the company’s peculiar indifference to cars.
It may be somewhat pointless to analyze in painstaking detail architectural renderings which will undoubtedly morph and evolve by the time they are made into buildings in 2015. But Apple’s proposal documents are rendered in painstaking detail, down to the last California wildflower, lens flare and sea-green linen blouse, so it may be interesting to see how they picture the cars their employees will be driving to work in four years from now, when the 2.8 million square foot campus is set to open for its proposed 13,000 inhabitants.
The complex will have underground parking and a free-standing four-story parking garage next to I–280, recessed one to three floors underground. For a company which has a tendency to destroy and recreate entire industries in its own image, the carscape is strangely bland and conservative. There are a number of pastel-colored Miatas—sensible for California—what looks like a Nissan 370Z and what I desperately hope is not a Chrysler Crossfire, a few Audi estates, BMW 5-Series, a smattering of generic black and maroon sedans. Tesla Roadsters are conspicuous by their complete absence. That’s all. You get a sense that these are not car people.
High resolution PDF’s of the plans may be downloaded from the City of Cupertino’s website. If you manage to spot the parking space for Steve Jobs’s black BMW R60/2 motorcycle, do post it in the comments.
Image Credit: Apple