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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Apple has gone through several iterations of its retail store design in the 10 years the stores have been open. The original design had black borders with large, backlit Apple logo mounted to the front of the store, near eye-level. Then, the stores went through an aluminum phase, with much more glass. The stores had a smallish aluminum border surrounding both the front doors and the window displays.

The most recent stores, such as the new Apple Store 4th Street in Berkeley, CA get rid of almost all the aluminum, and instead are almost entirely glass.


As IFOAppleStore notes, Apple's store architects have worked very hard to present an entirely symmetrical appearance for the 4th Street store. Apple has redesigned the sidewalk in front of the store with several different sized stone tiles to precisely match the sizes of the front window glass.
In this case, the master element is the stone floor tiles, which are 76 centimeters square (about 30 inches). The glass window panes are then manufactured to a multiple of that dimension. Outside, Apple routinely installs a new sidewalk in front of its street-facing stores. In this case, the sidewalk was made with contraction lines that are also multiple of the stone tile dimension. When all the painstaking design and construction work is finished, passersby and store visitors “see” the effect, but probably don’t realize why the store is so attractive.
In a companion post, IFOAppleStore notes the subtle new security grate system the Berkeley store -- one open to foot traffic 24/7 -- employs:
The steel grating at that store is constructed of narrow horizontal rods and thin vertical strips that have a minimal cross-section. When the grating is raised, it’s stored entirely within the ceiling behind a thin access slot. When the grating is lowered, it slides down through narrow slots in the side wall.
The grate closes well behind the front window as well, so that Apple's perfectionist window displays aren't obstructed by unsightly, but necessary, security features.

Article Link: New Apple Retail Store Design is Perfectly Symmetrical
 
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kolax

macrumors G3
Mar 20, 2007
9,181
115
Am I the only one who doesn't like this that much?

I like glass in their store designs, but it looked great with aluminium. All glass just seems quite bare.. maybe too simple.
 

tarproductions

macrumors member
Mar 27, 2010
98
1
San Diego, CA
I love how much attention to detail Apple continues to put into the each and every aspect of their brand. It's nice to see and I wish others would do the same (myself included!)
 

accessoriesguy

macrumors 6502a
Jul 8, 2011
891
0
I'm going to take the long drive up there just to see it, i'll make sure to come back with the measurements and degrees. :D
 

Darreners

macrumors newbie
May 26, 2009
10
0
Perfection

That Apple Store is not completely symmetrical. The images on the right and left walls are not the same. Therefore, the Apple Store is not completely symmetrical.
 

jayducharme

macrumors 601
Jun 22, 2006
4,517
5,935
The thick of it
It's amazing how subtle yet powerful the use of design symmetry is. Apple is smart to design their stores as meticulously as they design their products. For anyone who doesn't know about Apple products, the store itself will speak volumes.
 

MattInOz

macrumors 68030
Jan 19, 2006
2,760
0
Sydney
It's amazing how subtle yet powerful the use of design symmetry is. Apple is smart to design their stores as meticulously as they design their products. For anyone who doesn't know about Apple products, the store itself will speak volumes.

Plus with all that symmetry their eye will be drawn to the breaks.
Which will be the logo at least briefly.
The real point of disorder that will catch the eye will be the product.
I wouldn't be surprised to see people picking up the products just to place them more orderly on the display tables.

Look at the bases to the window screens they to seem to be identical. So your brain is going to briefly look at them to work out it was expecting them to be mirrored.
 

Mr. Chewbacca

macrumors 6502a
Apr 27, 2010
886
91
Dallas TX
This is more like CDO than OCD

Its about the same except the letters are in alphabetical order.

As they should be!!




(ok i stole that from someones fb post)
 

dmccloud

macrumors 68030
Sep 7, 2009
2,933
1,644
Anchorage, AK
The new store they opened here in Anchorage is also symmetrical, although it only has three rows of tables instead of four. It's also seems to be deeper than this store, based on the picture in the original post.
 
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