Apple Store Thread ][

My reaction: Oh well - it's not so bad that the general populace will object.
 
ckb said:
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?
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Yes, perfectly. Ablarc noted the facade is currently divided into three bays because of the prominence of the columns, while the architects said it was divided into eight thanks to the perpendicular glass panels. Neither is wrong, and I guess this will just depend on what your perspective is. Even then though, I don't imagine glass panes on the inside of the envelope would make much of a difference either way since from the outside the eye will tend to gloss over the entire surface. Thanking about it, I'd like to see some thin (4-6" deep) glass mullions on the outside that would perhaps tie into a modern cornice of some sorts. Then we'd get some real rhythm going.

Thinking about it even more, I agree with Ablarc's suggestion of 5 bays.. it seems proportionally about right.
 
This concern over vertical/ horizontal divisions is nothing but a digression, IMO. I find it odd that the debate concerning this building seems to center around how well it will or will not get along with its surrounding neighborhood-- as if Boylston Street actually had a consistent architectural character, rhythm or scale. The whole street is pretty much a massive, incohesive mess, and this block is a particularly good illustration of this.

This doesnt have to a bad thing either. People just really need to stop pretending Boylston Street is Comm Ave, and start seeing the street a bit more honestly, I think.
 
Thank you, Briv, I was also surprised to see all these negative comments towards the building. You're almost sounding like the "everything must fit in and be in brick" bunch. I agree that it's nice to have certain streets (ala Comm. Ave.) that keep the same architectural style, but if every street was like that it would get boring. Boylston's streetwall isn't an architectural gem, so let's bring on the contrast! That's one of the things I love most about Boston. If anything, this building will only improve Bolyston's not-so-great streetwall and pump life into the street.
 
Yes, the concern over vertical divisions is a digression, but so much of what is posted on this board is a digression, knowing fully well that any useful thoughts we come across fall upon deaf ears to those to which it really matters. What I said was in regard to keeping a consistent vertical bay breakdown that is common to not just Boylston St. or the Back Bay, but any structure that was built with humans in mind. I'm all for the new Apple building in any guise since, like you said, Boylston St is still in search of a defining form, but that won't stop me from critiquing what has been done so far. That's what we here do best :D
 
Dont get me wrong, I dont think the board discussion concerning the divisions is a digression. The powers that be-- in other words, the dopey BBAC-- are the ones that made that arbitrary nitpick the main focus of the building's design. So I was criticizing them in my last post, not anyone here.
 
lexicon506 said:
You're almost sounding like the "everything must fit in and be in brick" bunch. I agree that it's nice to have certain streets (ala Comm. Ave.) that keep the same architectural style, but if every street was like that it would get boring.
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The discussion isn't about style. It's about rhythm and scale.

Those criteria apply everywhere regardless of style. If a building is out of scale, it's generally (though not always) bad. Here it matters, because despite the cacophony of styles, Boylston Street has a uniformity of scale.

And no, scale doesn't mean size, and it doesn't mean height. It means the size of the component building elements. That's a valid issue here, and it's being discussed.
 
The more I think about the new Apple building, the more I like it. I am starting to feel like it would be cool to be walking down the street and then see this glass store. I also think that this store, no matter what it looks like, will bring more life to the area. Most Apple stores do.
 
kz1000ps said:
Yes, the concern over vertical divisions is a digression, but so much of what is posted on this board is a digression, knowing fully well that any useful thoughts we come across fall upon deaf ears to those to which it really matters. What I said was in regard to keeping a consistent vertical bay breakdown that is common to not just Boylston St. or the Back Bay, but any structure that was built with humans in mind.
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Trust a drummer to recognize the rhythmical basis of building design.
 
I'm flattered, although being a drummer definitely keeps you grounded (how many "drummers aren't musicians" jokes have you heard??). And not to turn this thread into a personal issue, but I think and feel there are some fundamental connections that go on between architecture and drumming (space and time), since both art forms deal with structural repititions and rhythm as thier raison d'etre. It keeps my mind very busy when I walk around here, taking in all these older buildings that just seem to make sense.
 
Someone said architecture is frozen music.

Goethe.

A perfect example by an exact contemporary of Goethe: the State House by Bulfinch. That building always makes me think of Beethoven's music. I could see it as the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Seventh or Eighth Symphonies.
 
Ablarc, do you really think Boylston St. has a consistent rhythm and scale?

I think that I understand what you mean by architectural scale, and rhythm. The BPL is probably the absolute best illustration of this idea in Boston, or anywhere else. Here we have two buildings, the McKim and the Johnson, about seventy years apart, pretty much the same size, with similar plans, and made of the exact same material, cut from the very same quarry. Yet, they both look, and more importantly, feel, utterly, completely different-- polar opposites really. It has to do with, as you say, their components. I always said an entire class can be taught on architectural scale and rhythm based around the BPL alone.

My point is, the BPL is on Boylston Street. And even though its on the south side (why do we make pretend Boylston has only one side anyways?) it really is representative of the entire street. It is a mashed up mess of many styles, scales and rhythms. Why dont we acknowledge this and work off it, rather than trying to preserve some imagined, utterly delusional, grand historical boulavard that doesnt exist now, nor really existed ever.
 
briv said:
Ablarc, do you really think Boylston St. has a consistent rhythm and scale?
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Whether it has is less important than whether it might have. And yes, it hass --not perfect, not complete, but a whale of a lot better than when it had gas stations. Do you remember the gas stations?

And yes, it is a grand boulevard, and getting grander with each building. I especially like that thirteen-or-so story apartment building with the bays, across from the Pru.

If it's a mishmash, why every bit of order we introduce into it is an improvement, don't you think?

After Boylston, we need to address Cambridge Street. Now there's a real and unnecessary mishmash.
 
I was by this area over the weekend, and it looks like Copy Cop may have already moved out of the building. The signs were still up, but there was opaque covers over the windows, shielding views of the inside. The BRA still needs to approve this project. They must be anticipating a quick approval process...
 
The place looked pretty dead several weeks ago when I was down there. They may have been closed for awhile. I may be wrong, as I was across the street, so it may have been open.
 
Before the Copy Cop building goes away -- does anyone know what it was originally built for?
 
The Globe said:
Public meeting scheduled on Apple store

The Boston Redevelopment Authority has scheduled a public meeting for Oct. 4 to get community feedback on a proposal by Apple Computer Inc. to build its first store in Boston.

The meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. at Fisher College.

After obtaining approval for its preliminary store design from the Back Bay Architectural Commission, Apple submitted a proposal to build a three-story building to the BRA on Sept. 11, a spokeswoman for the city's planning agency said.

Apple hopes to demolish an existing building at 815 Boylston St. in the Back Bay, then build a store whose front would largely be made of glass.

Apple's plan has the support of Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

It's likely that the BRA would take action on Apple's request by the end of the year, the BRA spokeswoman said.

A community meeting is a standard part of the BRA's review process of design proposals, she said. The BRA would weigh the feedback it gets on Apple's proposal before making a decision on whether to approve the store, she said.

A call to Apple's Boston consultant on the project was not immediately returned.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
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Link
 
Escape catch: Outer stairs snag Apple's store plans
Boston Business Journal - September 29, 2006
by Brian Kladko, Journal staff

Apple Computer Inc.'s seemingly smooth drive toward opening a gleaming store on Boylston Street in the Back Bay has hit a roadblock, and it has nothing to do with clashing architectural styles. The problem? A humble fire escape.

The owner of a neighboring building has withheld consent to Apple's plan to remove an exterior staircase that extends from the neighbor's third and fourth floors to the roof of the building Apple wants to demolish.

Apple has offered $25,000 to L-Cube Growth LLC, the owner of 811-813 Boylston St., to resolve the matter, but L-Cube's representative, Hwachii Lien, the owner of a discount brokerage and financial firm, has stalled. That prompted the owners of the Apple property to ask a Superior Court judge to declare that it has the right to remove the fire escape.

That ruling won't come until a judge holds a hearing Oct. 12, just three days before Apple intends to start removing asbestos in preparation for demolition of the two-story building at 815 Boylston. The property owners had asked for a hearing earlier than that, worried that any further delay would wreck Apple's plans to open its three-story building with a glass facade for the 2007/2008 holiday shopping season.

"We're ready to go," said Christopher Duggan, a Lincoln attorney representing the current owners of 815 Boylston, Elaine Alexander of Atlanta and Heritage Legacy LLC, based in New Jersey. "Any delay in that is going to cost the owner of the lot ... and Apple a lot of money. ... The construction schedule is very tight, and if one thing gets set back, everything else gets set back."

Apple, which intends to lease the property for 35 years, is still awaiting approval from the Boston Redevelopment Authority. But it already has cleared the toughest official hurdle -- approval by the Back Bay Architectural Commission.

Duggan told Suffolk Superior Court Judge Allan van Gestel at a Wednesday hearing that Lien had threatened to seek an injunction against the demolition, which he said would begin the first week of November. Lien declined to comment, but his lawyer, Philip Slotnick of Natick, told the judge, "Lien does not want litigation."

Slotnick also assured the judge that Lien was not looking to profit from Apple's situation. "Lien has plenty of money," he said. "He cares about fairness, equity and justice."

The neighboring building has two fire escapes: one that empties onto the roof of its neighbor, and one in back that serves all five floors, though Duggan said in Wednesday's hearing that the rear escape doesn't meet fire safety codes. The building that Apple wants to build won't allow for replacement of the side escape.

The $25,000 offer was not intended as a settlement, Duggan said, but as compensation for any recent expenses that L-Cube incurred in repairing the side escape. Duggan asserts that the owners of 815 Boylston have no obligation to keep the side fire escape. In a letter to Lien last month, he wrote that they allowed it to remain all this time "because they are good neighbors."

"I am sure you would like to return the courtesy they have shown you over the years," he wrote. "The new Apple building is going to be one of the most stunning structures in Boston, something you and all of the other neighbors will benefit from and enjoy for years to come."
 
I went to the meeting last night. It was a typical public meeting with all the typical emotions that seem to bubble up out of nowhere over nothing, but there were lots of schematics and a model to pour over. Most of the details are finalized, and they hope to start demolition by the end of November. And as for the roof fire escape stairs issue in the above article, the people on hand last night said it has been resolved. They just await all the final permits, then it's full steam ahead for about a year's time.

The facade will be double-glazed low iron glass, similar to what was used on 7WTC in NYC, and the columns and beams set back 7-8 ft from the glass will be covered in stainless steel. In the middle will be a circular staircase which will be topped by a roughly 25 x 25 foot skylight. Apple says this is their first 3 floor store in the world, and the entire 3rd floor will be dedicated to "free services." The first will have product display, and the second floor product display at the front, and space for demonstrations and classes in the back.

The highlight of the evening was when one woman who served on the BBAC for 13 years (which she made explicitly clear) asked whether they would start work before they received all of their permits, asking this out of concern over whether they would demolish the Copy Cop building and then for whatever reason pull out of the project, leaving a vacant hole in her precious Back Bay.

:? :evil: :?: :?: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:
 
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