Steve Jobs: The Starchitect of Cupertino

Compared to the United Arab Emirates or China, the U.S. hasn’t seen as much large-scale, ambitious, futuristic architecture in recent years. Even Zaha Hadid's upcoming condo project on the Highline in New York City looks pretty tame. She told New York Magazine, “It’s on a quite restricted site. You can’t really go wild.” The reality is, U.S. urban areas already have well-developed contexts, and the numerous approvals developers and architects need to secure tend to demand that any new large project fit well into its surroundings.

This is a big part of what makes Apple’s bold plan for a new 2.8 million square-foot, 175-acre "spaceship" campus so unprecedented. Early this week, the Cupertino City Council unanimously approved the $5 billion "Apple Mothership." The proposal just needs one more, largely perfunctory, vote in November before work on the site begins at the end of this year. The building is expected to open in 2016.