Apple's new Barcelona store features unique logo

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
A soon-to-open Apple retail store in Barcelona is advertised with a unique company logo that is "custom made" to fit the city neighborhood where the store is located.

The new Apple Store is set to open in Barcelona Centre's most expensive commercial street, Passeig de Gracia. AppleInsider reader Pere sent a picture of the under-construction storefront on Monday, and noted that Apple's latest retail creation is near Casa Batllo and Casa Mila, which are famous creations by renowned Spanish Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi.

Gaudi's buildings were particularly known for their use of stained glass, which the multi-colored Apple logo at the new store acknowledges. A sign at the under-construction storefront notes that the new Apple Store will be "custom made to fit Barcelona."

The new store on Passeig de Gracia will be Apple's second retail location in Barcelona. The first Barcelona store opened in the La Maquinista shopping district located in the outskirts of the city in 2010.

Apple often goes out of its way to match the architecture of the surrounding neighborhood with its retail stores, and will frequently set up shop in historical buildings while maintaining much of the look and feel of the original structure.

Barcelona 2
Photo courtesy AppleInsider reader Bob.


Barcelona


Plans for the Apple Store on Barcelona's Passeig de Gracia have been in the works since May of 2010. The new store is located in a 32,000-square-foot five-story building near the Mandarin Oriental hotel

The building dates back to the late 1800s, with Apple set to occupy a corner space that overlooks Catalunya Plaza. Earlier reports, dug up by ifoAppleStore, indicated that Apple had signed a 10-year lease for 27,000 square feet in space, including the basement and ground floor, for $5.1 million a year.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 37
    Gaudi's buildings were particularly known for their use of [B]a technique known as "trencadís", that consists on breaking various ceramic tiles into pieces and recomposing them in a random way, to cover the desired area and shape[/B], which the multi-colored Apple logo at the new store acknowledges.

    ;)

    Pere (another one)
    Architect
  • Reply 2 of 37
    oseameoseame Posts: 73member


    I wish other retailers would do this. I hate all the old tudor-style pubs and historically relevant and well designed buildings that have been turned in to gaudy fast food outlets in the UK, especially since the smoking ban. 

  • Reply 3 of 37
    iqatedoiqatedo Posts: 1,822member


    Look forward to visiting Barcelona one day.  This store will be on the list of local attractions to take in.  Hope the store is a big success. :)

  • Reply 4 of 37
    drblankdrblank Posts: 3,385member


    Is that a temporary sign or are they going to use that permanently?

  • Reply 5 of 37
    buckalecbuckalec Posts: 203member


    I worked in Barcelona 10 years ago for a NY company. We had trouble finding any Macs - There was a computer store in the back of town - mostly pc's but sold a limited amount and an overpriced department store that sold them. Oh how times have changed.

  • Reply 6 of 37
    umrk_labumrk_lab Posts: 550member
    Niece "localization" effort .. But wich will create frustration, if not applied to other places in the world (not to mention the protests, if the local people (natives, if you prefer) happen to dislike the localized logo ....
  • Reply 7 of 37
    isaidsoisaidso Posts: 750member


    "Gaudi's buildings were particularly known for their use of stained glass"


     


    Yeah, actually they're not.

  • Reply 8 of 37
    aaarrrggghaaarrrgggh Posts: 1,609member
    Nice tribute to Gaudí, albeit a bit two-dimensional.
  • Reply 9 of 37
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    drblank wrote: »
    Is that a temporary sign or are they going to use that permanently?

    That's the wall put up around the construction site, so I don't see why it was even called a "new logo", as it's designed to be temporary.
  • Reply 10 of 37
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member
    drblank wrote: »
    Is that a temporary sign or are they going to use that permanently?

    The photo is of a temp construction barricade. There's nothing at this point to back up that a similar logo will be on the store
  • Reply 11 of 37


    That's awesome. I love Barcelona.


     


    I was overcome with emotion when I visited the Temple Sagrada Familia - it was easily the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.


     


    Good on Apple for not being complete corporate shills in terms of their branding.

     

  • Reply 12 of 37

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post





    That's the wall put up around the construction site, so I don't see why it was even called a "new logo", as it's designed to be temporary.


    Temporary or not, it is still new.

  • Reply 13 of 37
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    applegreen wrote: »
    Temporary or not, it is still new.

    It's the same logo they've used for the last 35 years with some new colors in it. They've done this before plenty of times in advertising; that doesn't make it a new logo.
  • Reply 14 of 37


    It's a logo "treatment" for a temporary wall / advertisement. Poke me when it's part of the actual store.

  • Reply 15 of 37
    pcortacans wrote: »
    Gaudi's buildings were particularly known for their use of a technique known as "trencadís", that consists on breaking various ceramic tiles into pieces and recomposing them in a random way, to cover the desired area and shape, which the multi-colored Apple logo at the new store acknowledges.
    ;)
    Pere (another one)
    Architect

    Thank you. I was put off by the author's erroneous citation of stained glass. The logo is clearly referencing Gaudi's use of this tile work as he was not at all known for stained glass. Gaudi's work was Modernisme and highly influenced by Gothic Revival. It saddens me that the author wouldn't fact check this kind of thing. I mean, I know it's a rumor site but it's a pretty good one and this kind of thing is easily checked - after all Gaudi's work is finished (well, not really but will the cathedral ever be done?!?!). No one is speculating on his building 6GS.

    Shame on AI for such an obvious error that disrespects a great artist and cultural icon.
  • Reply 16 of 37

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post





    It's the same logo they've used for the last 35 years with some new colors in it. They've done this before plenty of times in advertising; that doesn't make it a new logo.


    Hmmmm....


     


    More inane stuff.  Not worth responding to.

  • Reply 17 of 37
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    applegreen wrote: »
    Hmmmm…. More inane stuff.  Not worth responding to.

    I'm not sure that could get more infantile.

    I provide a rebuttal to what you've said, proving it wrong. You then choose to respond by saying you're not responding to this rebuttal.

    Come off it. Seriously.
  • Reply 19 of 37

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post





    I'm not sure that could get more infantile.

    I provide a rebuttal to what you've said, proving it wrong. You then choose to respond by saying you're not responding to this rebuttal.

    Come off it. Seriously.


    That's no rebuttal.  It's unlike any logo that Apple has used before.  If you don't understand that, I feel sorry for you.


     


    Your comment only proves that you post without thinking.  Even an infant can do that.


     


    You have a tendency to make counter arguments without thinking.  Just for the sake of making counter arguments.  You post at the rate of 20 posts a day.  Who does that?  Somebody who has nothing better to do with their time.  

  • Reply 20 of 37
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    applegreen wrote: »
    That's no rebuttal.  It's unlike any logo that Apple has used before.  If you don't understand that, I feel sorry for you.

    Your comment only proves that you post without thinking.  Even an infant can do that.

    You have a tendency to make counter arguments without thinking.  Just for the sake of making counter arguments.  You post at the rate of 20 posts a day.  Who does that?  Somebody who has nothing better to do with their time.  

    - one cannot possibly write without thinking, let alone post.
    - an infant surely has never written a rebuttal online
    - don't be blind; many people post over 20 comments on Internet forums. Longer ones, and shorter ones
    - refuting to a post seems like someone has nothing better to do with their time
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