News/Research

Nicholas De Monchaux on Apple, Star Wars, and the Way the World Looks

07 Jan, 2016

Nicholas De Monchaux on Apple, Star Wars, and the Way the World Looks

Nicholas De Monchaux, Architecture, offers a glimpse into the design of our surroundings in a recently published Quartz article "Apple and Star Wars together explain why much of the world around you looks the way it does." Delving into the history of Apple and Steve Jobs' relationship with George Lucas' empires, such as Pixar and Skywalker Ranch, Nicholas explains how current design trends have evolved through the lens of Apple's new "Death Star" Cupertino headquarters. But as design leans towards complete and enclosed systems that lack compromise, issues arise given our complex and diverse needs. And while we can choose a host of other electronic products that offer greater freedom with relative ease, the scale of architecture affords no such alternatives. Expensive buildings are not so quickly gutted and torn down, leaving those without voices and rights in a difficult position, having to make-do with spaces that do not satisfy their demands.

As Nicholas concludes:

But as Apple’s reach extends into the city and world, into the public sphere as well as the private screen, we should do well to remember these hard-learned lessons of control and openness, hardness and softness, brittleness and resilience. After all, the only thing one can say for certain about a Death Star is that it unexpectedly explodes right before the ending.

Read the full article at: http://qz.com/572076/apple-and-star-wars-together-explain-why-the-world-around-you-looks-the-way-it-does/

Photo Credit: City of Cupertino