According to “El Economista” (http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=es&tl=en&u=http://www.eleconomista.es/empresas-finanzas/noticias/2639712/11/10/Norman-Foster-trabaja-en-el-diseno-de-la-nueva-Ciudad-de-Apple-en-Cupertino.html), a Spanish-language financial daily paper — and as reported by “Fortune” (http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/12/06/norman-foster-to-build-city-of-apple/), Apple CEO Steve Jobs has hired Forster + Partners to designed what the paper calls the “City of Apple” on the 150-acre parcel of commercial real estate Apple has accumulated across town from its Cupertino campus at Infinite Loop.

Forster + Partners (http://www.fosterandpartners.com/Practice/Default.aspx) is an architectural firm based in the United Kingdom. The practice is led by its founder and chairman, Norman Foster, and has constructed several famous glass-and-steel buildings. Among other projects, they designed the Hermitage Plaza in France, the Arsta Bridge in Sweden, an addition to the Joslyn Art Museum in the U.S., and the Hongkong and Shangia Bank Headquarters in Hong Kong.

Jobs is paying extraordinary attention to environmental issues as he designs the future headquarters of his company, “El Economist” says. The buildings that will house engineers and the R & D department will “incorporate cutting-edge technology in materials and equipment as well as renewable energy resources,” the article says. All transportation between the buildings will take place through a network of tunnels, keeping surface areas green, adds “Fortune.”