New Apple Headquarters Criticized for Copying Software Park in East China

The under-construction Apple site in California

Qilu Software Park in east China's Shandong province.

Netizens from east China’s Shandong Province have criticized that the architecture of Apple's new headquarters in California mimics the Shandong Qilu Software Park, the Hong Kong Oriental Daily reported on December 21.

The under-construction Apple site and the Qilu Software Park, which was built 20 years ago, are both large circular structures with a pasture and a lake in the center. The only difference is that the former is to-be built with glass walls, while the latter is in ivory concrete frames.

Some Chinese mainland netizens joked that Steve Jobs might have taken reference of the shape of Qilu Software Park when he designed the Apple campus. Some even mentioned that the two buildings are both the replicas of Fujian Tukou, a type of Hakka people’s rural dwelling in China’s southeast Fujian province. Regardless of these criticisms, Apple fans maintained that even though the campus does share some common grounds with the Park, it does not necessarily mean that it’s a copycat.