Apple and Burning Man set car-free precedents

First of all, yes, Apple’s campus is an isolated spaceship completely disconnected from the rest of the community. That is understood.

So, what do Apple and Burning Man have in common? Just about nothing, right? One sits at the top of the Fortune 500, another is the greatest representation of counter-corporate culture in the world.

However, as different as its audiences are, both are intent on redefining the way we live from a forward-thinking point of view, and interestingly, they share one common element associated with forward-thinking placemaking…

Both are intent on providing a car-free environment for its tens of thousands of participants.

To reiterate, yes, Apple’s campus is an isolated spaceship completely disconnected from the rest of the community, and Burning Man is only 8 days of the year in the middle of the desert, but progress comes incrementally via prototypes and precedents, not ideal models, especially when you’re talking about tens of thousands of people at once.

First of all, we’re not talking about the elimination of cars, but more so the elimination of them from constant use, and constant perception. One is setting a standard for a car-free built environment from a workplace point of view, by burying all the parking below ground, even the entry and exit. The presence of auto traffic is non-existent, only of people walking. The other is setting a standard for a car-free built environment from a living point of view, by restricting use of any cars (other than ‘art cars’) for 8 days. Again, the presence of auto traffic is non-existent, only of people walking.

They are also both built environments for tens of thousands of people using a self-enclosed model around a circular plan. The ‘Apple Campus II’ will host 15,000 in Cupertino, California while Burning Man hosts 68,000 in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, albeit for a week each year. Both are radial in plan with a gathering area in the center with the intention of mixing thoughts and ideas.

What about retail, the third major component of any city along with offices and residences? Retail always follows either, so that’s not difficult to add (commerce is not allowed at Burning Man).

The bottom line is that Apple and Burning Man provide evidence that the most creative, educated, technical, entrepreneurial and forward thinking people (which are many of the characteristics of either population base) are drawn to such a car-free built environment, whether in a suit or shorts.