If Steve Jobs and the city of Cupertino (my hometown) can agree, Apple Inc. will build a futuristic Silicon Valley campus and move into these new digs in 2015.  The 150 acre site is part Olympics stadium, part Lord of the Rings, part giant iPad, and part spaceship.  Parking will be underground, replacing asphalt lots.  Not a single piece of glass will be straight.  And as a nod to Cupertino’s past as a haven of orchards, Apple will work with a Stanford a horticulturist to plant native trees.  The site would host 12,000 to 13,000 people, double of what Hewlett Packard had housed.  Amazingly, employment will increase only by about 20% because the current headquarters at One Infinite Loop (pictured, click to expand) will still remain in operation.

Let us hope this passes muster--Apple has always been in Cupertino since its founding in the mid-1970s--and that Cupertino says yes to Apple.  What is amazing is that the new campus would be 80% landscaping and 20% buildings; currently the site is of the opposite ratio.

Watch the video below and check out the architecture drawings.  Of course, the Cupertino City Council members asked very marginal questions, especially Kris Wang (how about “free wi-fi?”).  It is pretty clear, however, that Apple will stay in Cupertino, and that will be nothing short of fabulous.

About The Author

Leon Kaye

Leon Kaye is the founder and editor of GreenGoPost.com and its advisory division, GGP Media. Contact him to discuss how he can work with your organization or event. His focus is making the business case for sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR). He writes for San Francisco-based Triple Pundit, Inhabitat and now The Guardian, for which he writes about corporate responsibility, water, and green building. He has also written for AIA's Architect Magazine. Leon works out of Fresno and Silicon Valley, California, and when he has free time, he enjoys hiking, gardening, cooking, weightlifting, and planning his next trip to one of the 60 countries he has visited. He has an MBA from USC's Marshall School of Business and is also a proud graduate of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) and Cal State-Fresno.