APPLE STORE: NEW YORK AND BOSTON Repost Plus

This is actually my first blogpost ever... one that I thought was really most interesting, but at that time, nobody read my blog yet! So, I'd like to share the story again!

Apple (the fruit company according to Forrest Gump) has already gained a following...and somehow I am now one of them!

But not only do they have innovative and unique products, they also presents unique architecture in their main stores which definitely stands out among the rest.

I first saw "The Apple Store in New York" in the movie "Meet Dave", which I incidentally also watched during my very short stay in New York. 

I had to find the store since it seemed like a replica of the one in Boston and I found this in the Fifth Avenue of Manhattan.
Interesting to note is that this is a one-storey stand alone glass building for the entrance and one goes down the stairs or the elevator to the store itself located a floor down (at the basement).

Imagine a glass one storey entrance among all the old huge stone buildings! 

More interesting is that it opens 24/7 and 365 days a year! 

As they say, "In a city that never sleeps is a store that never stops!".

http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/applefifthavenue/index.html

Apple Store

767 Fifth Avenue
New York City

NY 10153

Bohlin Cywinski Jackson 2006, glass cube reconstructed 2011

Structural glass engineered by Eckersley O'Callahan

The entrance cube to Apple's underground store on Fifth Avenue represents probably the purest form of transparent architecture. First, the cube is empty, avoiding the challenge of transparency simply revealing the clutter within, as for example at Dominique Perrault's Hôtel Industriel in Paris.

The 32-foot cube at the Apple Store is made from structural glass, with no metal framing; and its rectilinear profile blends in with the General Motors skyscraper behind it.

When first designed and built in 2006, the cube was already impressively transparent. Each wall was made up of 18 glass sheets, with discreet steel fixings. The effect was clear, but crystalline.

Only five years into its life, Apple closed the store temporarily to give it a hardware upgrade. They rebuilt the glass cube with even greater transparency and purity. In the new design (see top of this page), vast structural glass sheets run the whole way up the cube, so that each wall is now made up of only three panes. They crystalline effect has given way to an extreme minimalism – less retail and more temple.

Taking the transparency theme further, the entrance in the front of the cube leads into to a structural glass spiral staircase, winding around a cylindrical glass elevator.

The Apple Store has succeed in creating two new thriving spaces, both above ground in the new plaza around the cube, and below ground in the store itself, 24 hours a day.

Apple Store at Fifth Avenue, New York circa 2010

Activity at the Apple Store NY

On main floor is open 24/7 for all activities such as Sales and Training

Apple Store NY: down the glass steps and note the elevator in the center

Apple Store NY: down the glass steps

Apple Store NY: down the glass steps

 

Apple Store NY: as I look up from inside the elevator in the center of the stairs

Apple Store NY

When I went to Boston, we already intended to visit the Apple Store to check out some things we viewed online!

Lo and behold, among the historic buildings in Boylston Street is a three-storey glass castle where Apple fans can have the time of their life...test driving the different Mac products and you can stay there as long as the store is open. 

Store hours were:  Mon to Sat 10:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m and Sun: 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. 

They dedicated a whole floor for personal training and we also did Onetoone (One to One) for a month.

We just needed to schedule online for the choices of topic and time we wanted, which matched our convenient time.

Usually, Joko would come for the 5 pm class and I would take the 6 pm class.

Apple Store, Boylston inBoston circa 2010

Apple Store, Boylston in Boston: from outside

Apple Store, Boylston in Boston First Floor

Apple Store Boston: at the third floor dedicated to personal training

Apple Store Boston: at the third floor dedicated to personal training

Apple Store Boston: from the third floor looking down to second

Apple Store Boston: at the first floor = = test drive the Mac all you can

We also witnessed how Apple fans would line up waiting for the iPad, since that was the time last May 2010 when they were just launching the iPad.
That was just the beginning and now all kinds of tablets have popped up and a new revolution has again arrived.
Up to now, people continue to line up to be the first to get the newest iPad and iPhone!

Apple has remained an icon, not only in technology but also in architecture as they continue to be known for their glass facades and glass staircases.

I do hope to see more of the Apple glass buildings in the future... one of the most interesting ones at present is in Shanghai which is the cylinder version of the cube building in New York.