Apple loves to create futuristic, elegant designs -- even for its office buildings.

The company has asked the city of Cupertino, Calif., for approval to build an office complex that looks like it's ready for outer space. And none other than the iGod, Steve Jobs himself went to the City Council this week to ask for the green light.

"We do have a shot at building the best office building in the world," Jobs told the council members, according to TechCrunch. "Architecture students will come here to see this."

The four-story building, at least as planned, does seem like an architectural marvel. It won't use a single piece of straight glass; the design calls for curved glass all the way around. The building will have its own energy center, using mostly natural gas and tapping into the grid only for backup power.

The building will have mostly underground parking, although Apple's 20 buses that run on bio-diesel fuel will take workers into the campus. It will also have an auditorium, an employee gym and a cafeteria that can hold 3,000 people.

Why does Apple need a new campus? Its current facility holds only about 2,800 people. The company's other 6,700 employees are scattered in rented buildings throughout the Bay Area. Apple plans to keep its current building, but the new one will hold an estimated 12,000 employees.

Jobs gave the tiniest of veiled threats in his presentation to the council. "Apple is growing like a weed, and as you know, we've always been in Cupertino," he told the council, according to The Atlantic. "We'd like to continue to stay here and pay taxes, because if we can't, we have to go someplace like Mountain View."

"There is no chance that we're saying no," Mayor Gilbert Wong said. "The Mothership has landed in Cupertino."