In an interview at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC, Apple’s head of design Jony Ive called critiques of Apple Park “bizarre.”
The design chief seems to be very sensitive towards any criticism towards the $5 billion campus. Ive noted that the campus was designed for the company’s use, not for the general public. In a statement, he said:
“We didn’t make Apple Park for other people. So I think a lot of the criticisms … are utterly bizarre, because it wasn’t made for you. And I know how we work, and you don’t.”
The campus has drawn mixed reactions from observers. The public is mostly complaining about the campus’ affect on traffic parking, and home prices in the area around it. An architectural critic wrote in the New York Times:
“[The new campus shows] a blatant disregard not only for the citizens of Cupertino but also for the functionality of the region.”
During the interview, Ive commented on this matter, saying:
“I can’t imagine another time in the future that we get to try to make something that is for us, not in any indulgent, ghastly, selfish way, but we make it for us to try and help us do better. To make better products. To be able to easily collaborate and bump into other people. And we spend a lot of time there, we spend more time than in our own homes.”
That’s not to say that Ive is not open to criticism, because he is. But he just doesn’t want to hear any about the campus:
“Absolutely, all of your feelings and feedback around the MacBook that you use, we couldn’t want to listen to more. And we hear, boy do we hear.”
The new campus has more space dedicated to parking than workspace. Wired’s Adam Rogers wrote:
“Apple’s new [headquarters] is a retrograde, literally inward-looking building with contempt for the city where it lives and cities in general.”
The report notes that even some of Apple’s employees are exactly happy about the new campus. The biggest complaint is the new open workspace, which is a radical shift from the way they used to work in their own cubicles.
What do you think of the criticism towards Apple Park? If you are living in the area, has it affected you? Let us know in the comments below.
[via Business Insider]
