And indeed it’s a very ambitious thing. It’s one giant building that would hold 12,000 people. The building is circular with “not a straight piece of glass”–all curved. 

It’s also interesting to see Jobs in “pitch mode” outside of the regular keynote speech setting. He’s much more low-key, because he knows the city council can screw his project if they want to. He’s still salesy, but doesn’t use words like “magical” or “insanely great.”

And yet you can see his tough streak. When a council member asks if Apple plans to give the city free wi-fi, he says: “We’re the largest taxpayers in Cupertino, so we’d like to continue to stay here and pay taxes,” which is like the perfect veiled threat. We wonder if that’s how meetings go at Foxconn.  

Other highlights:

• The campus would use its own natural gas generator as its primary source of power and the city’s power grid only as a backup. Weird.
• The building includes an auditorium for conferences, and Jobs suggests that’s where Apple could hold its big events instead of renting out space in San Francisco.
• Apple wants to break ground next year, and move in in 2015.

We put together a slideshow of pictures and charts about the amazing new campus. Click through for the pictures and the video of Steve Jobs’ pitch.

Jobs presentation to Cupertino board

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