Steve Jobs Pitches 'Spaceship' Apple HQ

What medical leave? Steve Jobs made a surprise appearance at a Cupertino City Council meeting yesterday to announce plans for a major Apple expansion: a spaceship-like structure that would house an estimated 12,000 employees. Jobs presented renderings of a proposed 150-acre Northern California campus built around a massive circular building with a heavily landscaped center. (Wired has photos.)

Apple's existing Cupertino headquarters accommodates about 2,600 employees, with other workers scattered in smaller buildings throughout the city. City officials appeared enthusiastic about the plan, including one councilman who told Jobs that "the word `spectacular' would be an understatement." (Click to read about Jobs' other public appearance this week.)