Apple

The current Apple campus underwhelms. Its address, One Infinite Loop, suggests something bold and futuristic, but reveals instead a rabbit warren of bland buildings. Until recently, what happened inside was all that mattered for tech companies. Architectural statements — tech’s version of, say, the Chrysler Building — have only just begun to emerge in Silicon Valley as iconic architects like Frank Gehry and Sir Norman Foster have arrived. With the new Apple complex, Foster has created a building that is an infinite loop, like the scroll wheel of an old-school iPod. The decision to create a building that feels more like a flawless piece of industrial design than architecture is puzzling at first — then obvious. —Allison Arieff