Core project

Apple’s massive $1 billion campus will take a bite out of Northwest Austin in 2022

The new campus will sprawl 133 acres.

Courtesy of Apple

Apple will mark the 30th anniversary of its first Austin office with the debut of its $1 billion office campus in Northwest Austin.

The tech giant confirmed April 26 that employees will start occupying the new campus, at West Parmer Lane and Dallas Drive, sometime in 2022. Apple first established an Austin presence in 1992.

“It’s been over 25 years since Apple opened its first office in Austin, and we are thrilled to be deepening our partnership with the city and people here,” Kristina Raspe, Apple’s vice president of worldwide real estate and facilities, says in a statement. “Our growing teams are deeply engrained in the community, and we are proud to contribute to Austin’s thriving culture and its economy.”

Apple announced the $1 billion campus in 2018 and started construction the following year. The office complex initially will house 5,000 employees and eventually may accommodate as many as 15,000. Apple’s nearby office campus, also along West Parmer Lane, employs close to 7,000 people.

The new 133-acre campus will contain about 2 million square feet of office space. Last May, CultureMap broke the news that Apple was adding a 192-room hotel to the campus.

Word of Apple’s move into the new Austin campus came as the Cupertino, California-based company revealed it will spend more than $1 billion to establish a corporate campus and engineering hub in North Carolina’s Research Triangle region. The North Carolina operation will employ at least 3,000 people working on technology like machine learning, artificial intelligence, and software.

In all, Apple says it is investing $430 billion and adding 20,000 jobs in the U.S. over the next five years.

“At this moment of recovery and rebuilding, Apple is doubling down on our commitment to U.S. innovation and manufacturing with a generational investment reaching communities across all 50 states,” Apple CEO Tim Cook says. “We’re creating jobs in cutting-edge fields — from 5G to silicon engineering to artificial intelligence — investing in the next generation of innovative new businesses, and in all our work, building toward a greener and more equitable future.”

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SKIN IN THE GAME

Renowned Hill Country tattoo artist inks new sacred geometry app

Photo courtesy of Dillon Forte

Dillion Forte at his "tattoo ranch" in the Texas Hill Country.

In the world of tattooing, there may seem to be few better rat traps left to build, but Dillon Forte aims to change that. In October, the renowned Wimberley-based tattoo artist and entrepreneur introduced a new iPadOS app to bring ancient symbology into the digital age.

Forte has made a worldwide name for his black dot work (a contemporary take on stick-and-poke techniques) and ambitious undertakings like tattooing underwater and opening a “tattoo ranch.” His ink appears on Usher, Chris Hemsworth, and Kehlani.

Still, he is most recognized for his sacred geometry designs, using patterns to convey various meanings. His interest led him to create the Sacred Geometry Drawing App, a convenient way for novices and experts to develop and export their creations.

The app grew out of his own practice. Over the past decade, he has used tablets and freehand techniques to achieve his highly symmetrical artwork but grew to realize existing tools were not always easy to use.

“The app is an attempt and fulfillment of my desire to make sacred geometry accessible and bring the ability to create into the fingertips of as many people as possible,” Forte tells CultureMap via email, adding a tagline: “symmetry made simply.”

He says he wished the app was available when developing his signature style as a tattoo artist, but it was designed with a broad range of users in mind. He hopes that designers, educators, and artists will find a use for it.

A short intro to the app's capabilities is available on YouTube. It looks like a standard drawing app, starting with a blank canvas and some tools like pens, pencils, colors, and of course, straight line and dot makers.

A "symmetry index" anchors the functionality and expands it to something between 2D art and 3D modeling. In addition to generating shapes like repeating patterns and spirals, the app also creates 3D shapes with grids, so that the artist can map their design in real space or even create sculptures. There is also an index for explaining the spiritual meaning of some standard designs.

“Geometry often prompts an intimidating feeling when it comes to making art,” Forte continues. “The fundamentally complex and often academic nature of math-based art can induce a sense of fear in the potential user instead of creating a sense of awe. The purpose of the sacred geometry app is to cultivate the latter."

Creatives interested in constructing their own geometric masterpieces can download the app at the App Store for free, and in-app purchases are available.

technology apps tattoos arts