The operative concept behind this new line of Apple Store is, according to Angela Ahrendts, the vice president of Retail and Online Stores, the “Town Square”. The retail area of the store remains tucked away from the main circulation space. Indeed, it seems that such a level of understatement and subtlety is just what they were after: not focused on a mesmerising retail floor to shift their seductive goods out-the-door but more of a hip and sensitive space intended to propagate ‘the cult of Apple’ and its all-powerful lifestyle brand. With this and the staircases that run down either side of the store, dropping you almost directly in front of its riverside entrance, it is not at all surprising if the retail element of the building, lurking halfway under the plaza itself, is missed entirely. Stepping inside, past the thick glass façade and under the overhanging white oak ceiling, you reach the similarly finished (and stepped) mezzanine section of the store – here, quite simply for hangouts and taking in those river views when the Midwest winter demands something a little cosier than the bleacher style seating outside. Photo (c) Nigel Young Foster + Partners it seems that such a level of understatement and subtlety is just what they were after At either side of the building’s transparent extents, is a set of cascading limestone steps incorporating sporadic sections of timber seating all the way down to the river’s edge. Even at this initial encounter (with what is mostly empty space) it is unmistakably an Apple product: with an elegance and level of precision that you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere else. When first approaching the new Apple Store from the upper level of Pioneer Court, all that can be seen is a double height glass wall, two elegant metal columns and an ultra-thin carbon-fiber roof, bevelled and moulded like their iconic MacBook line. Apple Michigan Avenue is about removing boundaries between inside and outside, reviving important urban connections within the cityĪs Apple’s chief design officer Jonathan Ive claims, “Apple Michigan Avenue is about removing boundaries between inside and outside, reviving important urban connections within the city.” Carving out a gradual and engaging connection between these two formerly divided areas of prime public space. The new $27 million flagship Apple Store – replacing the company’s previous 16-year resident several blocks over – straddles an important step from the historic Pioneer Court down to the Chicago River. The Chicago Apple Store’s new Michigan Avenue address. Yet, interestingly enough, it appears that this unique facet of the architectural product has, for Apple, been more than just a necessary constraint on this occasion: their latest iteration of wood, metal and glass seemingly focused on something more than just sales and after-purchase support, something more in the region of civic responsibility. What separates this line of Apple products from the rest is, of course, a complex urban context – after all, architecture does not roll off the assembly line and into the marketplace the same way an iPod or iPhone does. We saw a sneak peek of their glass curtain wall system and super slim roof lines at the Apple Park this year but it now appears that this is more than just a one-off thing for their big time California HQ it seems that this is their latest rendition of Apple Architecture, delivered by Foster + Partners. With the grand opening of Apple’s brand new Chicago outpost this month, it appears that the tech giant’s new line of stores, recently renamed "town squares", has well and truly dropped.
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