Apple enlists architectural A-team for new Madison Avenue store in NYC

Posted:
in General Discussion edited May 2015
Apple looks to be plotting another architectural marvel with its new Madison Avenue store in Manhattan, as the iPhone maker has turned to the same team of architects and engineers responsible for many of its most iconic outlets.



Longtime partners Bohlin Cywinsky Jackson and Eckersley O'Callaghan have been brought in to revamp the 93-year-old former United States Mortgage and Trust Company building at the corner of East 74th Street and Madison Avenue, according to New York City building permits. The permits were first discovered by ifoAppleStore.

Both firms have deep ties to Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple. Bohlin has been the architect of record for every flagship Apple store since the chain's inception, from the famous Fifth Avenue cube to the new Stanford store in Palo Alto with its cantilevered steel roof.

Eckersley, meanwhile, have had an equal hand in crafting Apple's retail empire. They worked side-by-side with Bohlin on the New York stores and others around the globe -- including Shanghai's glass cylinder and London's massive Regent Street store -- providing critical expertise in structural glass engineering.

Notably, Eckersley was also responsible for the innovative use of glass in late Apple CEO Steve Jobs's Philippe Starck-designed superyacht. The ship features structural glass walls up to 40 feet in length, a first in the yachting industry.

Apple has just begun a $60,000 interior demolition on the new store, the permits indicate. The company is thought to be targeting a 2015 opening.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 33
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:

     Bohlin Cywinsky Jackson and Eckersley O'Callaghan


     

    Certainly a mouthful.

     

    Here's the building in question:

     

     

    I find that Starck-designed super yacht hideous.

  • Reply 2 of 33
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    My first thought upon reading the title was this was about the A-series chip. :(
  • Reply 3 of 33
    island hermitisland hermit Posts: 6,217member

    "Apple has just begun a $60,000 interior demolition on the new store, the permits indicate. The company is thought to be targeting a 2015 opening."

     

    Sounds like Apple lucked out and was given basically an empty shell. $60,000 doesn't buy much these days.

  • Reply 4 of 33
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member

    More exterior images:

     

     

     

    And some interior shots:

     

     

  • Reply 5 of 33
    robin huberrobin huber Posts: 3,945member
    Whatever happened to his yacht? Did his family keep it? Use it?
  • Reply 6 of 33
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Robin Huber View Post



    Whatever happened to his yacht? Did his family keep it? Use it?

     

    Yep.

  • Reply 7 of 33
    island hermitisland hermit Posts: 6,217member

    On one of the 2nd story window ledges:

     

    Charles Simonds, Dwellings, 1981. Part two of a three-part sculpture. Clay, sand, sticks, stones, wood, plaster, cloth, wood, and chicken wire, 10 3/8 × 29 3/8 × 7 3/4 in. (26.4 × 71.6 × 19.7 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Louis and Bessie Adler Foundation Inc., Seymour M. Klein, President  81.11a-c© 2009 Charles Simonds/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

  • Reply 8 of 33
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    This time the entire store will be crafted from a single piece of blown glass, like a giant vase.
  • Reply 9 of 33
    rtdunhamrtdunham Posts: 428member
    I'd like to see Apple utilize as many historical buildings as possible and maintain their design as fully as possible. I realize there's a perhaps insurmountable obstacle between Apple's desire to have the stores so uniform versus having stores that would sustain a feel for the city/state/region they are in and the historical period they are from.
  • Reply 10 of 33
    chandra69chandra69 Posts: 638member

    I dont really think if Apple will do the same in China - investing this much money and time in China.

    Also, I dont think Chinese would be in a position to appreciate all these. :|

     

    If I am not wrong, Angela Ahrendts is going to build B-Grade Apple Stores in China.

  • Reply 11 of 33
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Chandra69 View Post

     

    I dont really think if Apple will do the same in China - investing this much money and time in China.

    Also, I dont think Chinese would be in a position to appreciate all these. :|

     

    If I am not wrong, Angela Ahrendts is going to build B-Grade Apple Stores in China.


     

    I believe you're wrong. "B-grade"? The upper and middle-class that has erupted in China wouldn't stand for it. They insist on the best brands now.

  • Reply 12 of 33
    chandra69chandra69 Posts: 638member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post

     

     

    I believe you're wrong. "B-grade"? The upper and middle-class that has erupted in China wouldn't stand for it. They insist on the best brands now.


    If they really insist on best brands - and they buy good brands like Samsung - Android share would never have shot to what they have now. Apple is just 7% there.

  • Reply 13 of 33
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  • Reply 14 of 33
    Do
    rtdunham wrote: »
    I'd like to see Apple utilize as many historical buildings as possible and maintain their design as fully as possible. I realize there's a perhaps insurmountable obstacle between Apple's desire to have the stores so uniform versus having stores that would sustain a feel for the city/state/region they are in and the historical period they are from.
    are you referring to uniformity inside or outside of these stores?
  • Reply 15 of 33
    chandra69 wrote: »
    I dont really think if Apple will do the same in China - investing this much money and time in China.
    Also, I dont think Chinese would be in a position to appreciate all these. :|

    If I am not wrong, Angela Ahrendts is going to build B-Grade Apple Stores in China.
    Where are you drawing these assumptions from? Have you been to China in the past 10 years? And while we're at it, please further display your ignorance in regards to Apple, China, Angela Ahrendts and architecture, can't wait to read your justifications here
  • Reply 16 of 33
    bobschlobbobschlob Posts: 1,074member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Chandra69 View Post

     
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post

     

     

    I believe you're wrong. "B-grade"? The upper and middle-class that has erupted in China wouldn't stand for it. They insist on the best brands now.


    If they really insist on best brands - and they buy good brands like Samsung - Android share would never have shot to what they have now. Apple is just 7% there.


    He's talking about the Chinese "Apple customers".

  • Reply 17 of 33
    christopher126christopher126 Posts: 4,366member

    I applaud Apple for this approach. The "glass" stores are impressive, but the older style of architecture is more elegant. 

  • Reply 18 of 33
    constable odoconstable odo Posts: 1,041member

    So, is Apple going to tear down all the brick and erect an entirely glass building in its place?  Considering how most Apple stores are, this structure doesn't seem to stand much of a chance of surviving.  I suppose it could end up more like the Grand Central Station store but it wouldn't look much like an Apple Store from the outside unless it had some huge Apple logo in front or a huge glass structure on the roof.

  • Reply 19 of 33
    rtdunhamrtdunham Posts: 428member
    Do
    are you referring to uniformity inside or outside of these stores?

    Inside. Stark, modern.
  • Reply 20 of 33
    So, is Apple going to tear down all the brick and erect an entirely glass building in its place?  Considering how most Apple stores are, this structure doesn't seem to stand much of a chance of surviving.  I suppose it could end up more like the Grand Central Station store but it wouldn't look much like an Apple Store from the outside unless it had some huge Apple logo in front or a huge glass structure on the roof.
    Once again, show and tell!! Where do you see Apple destroying classic architecture or throwing up massive apple signage, it simply isn't their style, you need only look at the huge number of iconic buildings they've respectively restored to a level that does make me proud to own AAPL and doesn't look like the latest fashion store with massive signage. Well done Apple, love your work
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