Apple Store Thread ][

[callahan]

I think the new design looks good. Seriously, it's better than what's there at the moment. And when the new Mandarin Hotel is finished that whole block is going to appear very different. I think it's going to really kick start Boylston Street.

 

[TheBostonian]

I think the new design looks good. Seriously, it's better than what's there at the moment. And when the new Mandarin Hotel is finished that whole block is going to appear very different. I think it's going to really kick start Boylston Street.

I agree. With the giant Prudential Center complex, with the 2nd and 8th tallest buildings in Boston, only now are we seeing something that gives us a real street wall.

 

[kz1000ps]

Don't forget the Lord & Taylor facade job, however lame it may be, and whatever developments are going on with 888 Boylston.

 

[briv]

Back to the Apple store design...

I dont think either design is very good. The design changes that have so swayed the BBAC seem utterly arbitrary to me. The biggest problem with these designs, one that is only emphasized with the revised , BBAC-favored design, is the fact that showcasing the buildings structure as so likens it to Corbusier's Domino House. In other words, it looks like a goddam parking garage.

Surely the company that has designed the iPod, iMac, and MacBook Pro can do far better than this. I realize that Apple, while living and dying by design when it comes to its product line, sometimes overlooks its physical/architectural identity, but maybe we need another architect on this one.

 

[bdurden]

On an unrelated note, I'm a big fan of the soon to open Apple Flagship store on Lincoln Rd in South Beach:

 

[Scott]

Wow! I'm a fan too.

 

[Ron Newman]

Now that's contextual.

Is it a new building, or a retrofit of something already there?

 

[bdurden]

It's a retrofit. When it comes to contextual, Miami Beach sure gets it.

The building dates from the 1930s. It was previously occupied by Mosley's Linens.

Before:

After:

 

[bostonman]

Back Bay panel OK's store plan by Apple
Preliminary design now faces scrutiny by BRA, agencies
By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff | August 11, 2006
The Back Bay Architectural Commission approved Apple Computer Inc.'s preliminary design for a store on Boylston Street near the Prudential Center.

"They've cleared a big hurdle," said the commission's chairman, Anthony Casendino.

While details are still being tweaked, Apple has generally been proposing to construct a three-story building with a green roof and a front made largely of glass after demolishing the building at 815 Boylston St. The store would be Apple's first in Boston. There are Apple stores at malls in Chestnut Hill and Cambridge and at four other Massachusetts sites.

The store proposal still awaits approvals from other city agencies and from the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino said he's enthusiastic about the planned store. ``It's great for the city," he said.

In June, the commission said it would allow Apple to demolish the building at 815 Boylston to make space for the new store if Apple presented an appropriate building design. On Wednesday, the commission approved Apple's preliminary design.

``We are pleased that the plans we've presented have met with the commission's approval," Apple said in a statement.

One job of the commission is to help preserve the historic character of the Back Bay Architectural District. Apple has contended that 815 Boylston St., whose street level was recently home to a Copy Cop store, has little architectural significance, despite having been built a century ago.

In a hearing in March, some members of the commission did not immediately agree with Apple's assessment and said that Apple's initial design proposals did not seem to fit in with other buildings in the neighborhood.

Chris Reidy can be reached at reidy@globe.com.

? Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.

http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2006/08/11/back_bay_panel_oks_store_plan_by_apple/

If this store gets approved, I think that it would be great for Boston, as most of the Apple stores generate a lot of business, which is always good.

 

[Mike]

First look at Apple's proposed Boston store


The Boston Redevelopment Authority has released a rendering of the proposed Apple Computer Inc. retail store on Boylston Street.

Last week, the Back Bay Architectural Commission approved Apple's preliminary design for a store near the Prudential Center.

While details are still being tweaked, Apple has generally been proposing to construct a three-story building with a green roof and a front made largely of glass after demolishing the building at 815 Boylston St. The store would be Apple's first in Boston. There are Apple stores at malls in Chestnut Hill and Cambridge and at four other Massachusetts sites.

The store proposal still awaits approvals from other city agencies and from the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino said he's enthusiastic about the planned store. "It's great for the city," he said.


Link

 

[Ron Newman]

My first reaction is "that looks very brightly lit compared to its neighbors".

 

[kz1000ps]

Having that much glass for walls will inevitably do that, but knowing how renderers embellish things (especially with all the shiny glassy structures in vogue today), I'd like to think it won't be that out of place.

 

[ablarc]

To make it more in scale, the facade should be divided in five parts, not three. Center bay way too wide.

 

[naushoncap122]

I think in general it is a rather poor and generic design that is simply intended to fit national brand image without regard for local context. Whether I would rather have this or the copy cop is something I do ponder. I understand that this is taller and new and is thus perfectly acceptable to most on this board, but it is miserably out of place.

 

[atlantaden]

My suggestion would be to demolish the neighboring buildings on either side and replace them with something similar to make the Apple building less "out of place."

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

My suggestion would be to demolish the neighboring buildings on either side and replace them with something similar to make the Apple building less "out of place."

Hahah....I hope you're joking.

 

[BostonSkyGuy]

My suggestion would be to demolish the neighboring buildings on either side and replace them with something similar to make the Apple building less "out of place."

You can tell you're spending too much time in Atlanta.

 

[palindrome]

My suggestion would be to demolish the neighboring buildings on either side and replace them with something similar to make the Apple building less "out of place."

Thats what i like about it. I think its sharp contrast compared to its neighbors makes a dramatic deviation from it's surroundings.

 

[ckb]

To make it more in scale, the facade should be divided in five parts, not three. Center bay way too wide.

I agree. In my reaction to a previously displayed rendering (the second publicly posted iteration of the design, I think), I noted an improvement in the pacing by the addition of vertical elements. These vertical elements seem to be less prominent in this iteration -- although it could be the perspective of the view -- we're looking head on here, and I think the oblique view presented before gave more emphasis to vertical elements (which are sheets of glass perpendicular to Boylston St.). Am I making sense?

I also agree with Ron that the store looks very brightly lit in this rendering. I know this is a trick that renderers often use to emphasize a new building, but it is an ill-advised trick when people from the "neighborhood" will be objecting to all sorts of things.

Finally, I don't understand why the architects have lost the contextualism of a cornice (especially when they have apparently been careful to work with matching the floor/ceiling heights, at least with the building on the left). A hallmark of many of the nearby buildings in the Back Bay is the strong emphasis on varied cornices. There is nothing here that would even suggest such a thing -- which I find a significantly missed opportunity.

Funny that we can devote so much discussion to a relatively small building, but when Apple has built its brand around design, it seems only natural ....

 

[callahan]

I was hoping that the ground level would be an empty glass cube and all of the actual activity would take place below, like the store in New York