Just in time for WWDC: Apple rebuilds rainbow sculpture in Apple Park
The disappearance of a symbol of Apple's past – and its diversity efforts – caused an uproar online. Now the designers were back.
Missing rainbow in Apple Park: Suddenly gone, now back.
(Image: Screenshot Google Maps)
Together with the creation of Apple Park, Apple also installed a rainbow in the center of the circular spaceship, which houses a large park. Events were held under or in front of it and managers appeared in front of it in the video at many an Apple keynote. Then the art object, which also stood for Apple's efforts in terms of diversity (and the old Apple logo) suddenly disappeared at the beginning of March. But it won't stay that way: the rainbow is set to be resurrected in the form of a stage in time for the WWDC 2025 developer conference in June. This is reported by 9to5Mac and the YouTube channel ibsix, among others.
Rainbow idea came from Jony Ive
According to the report, craftsmen have long been in the process of rebuilding the object – or are almost finished. The structure is also said to be more stable than the previous one. The dismantling was therefore not for political or marketing reasons. Instead, Apple was only interested in making the rainbow more "permanent". This kind of approach is nothing new; for example, Apple rebuilt its glass cube in Manhattan in several stages so that fewer and fewer glass surfaces were required.
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The rainbow area is officially called the "Rainbow Stage". The sculpture consists of a total of six colored arcs, the "six colors" that were also present in the old Apple logo. The idea for this apparently came from Jony Ive, once Apple's chief designer. According to an intranet posting from 2019, he wanted to create something that would be "instantly recognizable as the Apple stage". The idea for the rainbow was one of those rare cases where the first thoughts were the ones that worked best. "There is a resonance with the rainbow logo, which has been part of our identity for many years. The rainbow is also a positive and friendly expression of some of our inclusion values," Ive said. It would be hard to find someone who "doesn't like rainbows".
Stage for videos and concerts
Why Apple didn't build a more permanent structure in the first place, only the company knows. Allegedly, the version before the new one was never intended to be a permanent installation. Apple currently uses the "Rainbow Stage" primarily for the aforementioned videos and sometimes holds concerts there – especially for employees.
For WWDC 2025, however, developers from outside the company will once again come to the campus, although their video presentations will probably take place near Apple's gigantic canteen. Apple has refrained from holding real keynotes with stage appearances since the coronavirus pandemic.
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