The lead designer of Apple, Jonathan Ive, has lately commented on the infamous reputation which Apple Park has quickly started to gain due to its open-plan office spaces. There have been strong rumors for months of an uprise among Apple’s staff members who hated the building’s design and thought it was uncomfortable to work in.
Photography: Mikael Jansson – Courtesy of Wall Street Journal
Jonathan Ive has collaborated with Foster + Partners to design the saucer-shaped headquarters in Cupertino, California. “We didn’t make Apple Park for other people,” stated Ive. “So, 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!”
“I think Apple Park has a very specific role. It’s not a watch. It’s our house, where we go to work together,” he said. “Of course for people to have strong views and criticisms of the products they use; we make them for other people.”
Photography: Mikael Jansson – Courtesy of Wall Street Journal
Leading a team that will still relocate to Apple Park, I’ve expressed his enthusiasm about the open layout saying that it will enable the different teams to work together adequately.
“An industrial designer will be sitting next to a font designer, who will be sitting next to a sound designer, who will be sitting next to a motion graphics designer, and a haptics expert, and somebody who is used to working on three-dimensional figures that are animated, next to a user interface expert, with digital model makers and physical real-world model makers,” Ive explained.
Photography: Mikael Jansson – Courtesy of Wall Street Journal
In 2015, Jonathan Ive was appointed chief designer of Apple, but since then he has deputed Alan Dye and Richard Howarth who took over many of his responsibilities due to his travels abroad. Recently, he has regained office and he will be fully in charge of the design teams of the hi-tech company.
