The colorful arches surrounding what was once the Apple Park Stage have been dismantled, as seen on Google Maps satellite images.
The move comes as a surprise given that they’ve been a fixture in Apple keynote videos, but it’s being suggested that they are being rebuilt, this time as a permanent structure …
Jony Ive told staff about the plan for the May 2019 event in an intranet post at the time.
Our goal was to create a stage that would become immediately recognizable as the Apple Stage. The idea for the rainbow was one of those rare occasions where the earliest thoughts worked on a number of different fronts.
There is the resonance with the rainbow logo that’s been part of our identity for many years. The rainbow is also a positive and joyful expression of some of our inclusion values and I think that one of the primary reasons the idea resonated so immediately and so profoundly with us was the form — the connection from an aesthetic design point of view. A semi-circle relates so beautifully and naturally to the form of the ring […]
The rainbow’s presence and optimism is keenly felt in many places and at the end of the day — it’s hard to find somebody that doesn’t love a rainbow.”
The stage itself was a removable installation that was taken down and reassembled for some subsequent events, while the arches remained.
Ibsix’s Gabriel Iglesias suggests that it won’t be gone for long, however. The theory is that they too were never intended to be a permanent structure, and so were built to standards appropriate for a temporary installation. But they’ve become such an iconic sight, the thinking is Apple wants them to a permanent fixture, and is about to rebuild a much more robust version.
Image: 9to5Mac collage of images from Apple and Google
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