The Apple Case. Architecture, Global Market, and Information Technology in the Digital Age

Abstract

Focusing on the relationship among architectural form, global market, and digital technologies, this essay investigates the controversial nature of the corporation, between real and virtual, local and global space. The writing contains two intersecting paths of reading. On the one hand, it focuses on the latest building of the Apple enterprise, which is analyzed through a formal as well as metaphorical comparison with some previous architectural experiences, including both the Stanford academic campus and the Royal Saltworks of Chaux. On the other hand, the paper focuses on the strategies used by Apple Computers in the construction of its competitive image, and passing through a reading of primary data, such as early experiences, products, commercials, and buildings, it analyzes the proper company’s style, that we can define as “Apple Architecture”