To be honest, the new HQ design looks both bombastic and anonymous to me. I especially wonder what it's going to look like from ground level; I have a sneaking suspicion that the circular facade is going to make it look like you're at the back of the building no matter where you are. But it's very hard to judge these things in advance from a few illustrations.

Yes. If design is language, the new Apple HQ's architecture speaks of an encircled army camp, bulwarked against any possible engagement with the world around it. Every visual feature is defensive in nature.

It's the sort of place where I'd expect a zombie movie to finish up, not where I'd expect people to be inspired to create great things. It belongs in Pyongyang, not Cupertino.