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In December, Apple announced its plans to open a new flagship retail location at the Federation Square shopping center in Melbourne, Australia in 2020. Since that announcement, many locals have come out against the store and the demolition of the existing Yarra building, arguing that the public space in Federation Square should stay that way and not be "given up" to a corporation.

This week, Apple's planned store has faced new backlash in regards to its design, coming from the Melbourne City Council (via the Australian Broadcasting Corporation). During a city council meeting on Tuesday it was reported that Apple's design proposal for the location was "overwhelmingly" rejected by the community through about 800 public submissions disliking the look of the store.

Apple-Federation-Square-Australia.jpg


Melbourne councillors then "unanimously backed" a motion to lobby the government for a new store design and public consultation on the project, and now await to see if the government will accept or reject its proposal. Councillor Nicholas Reece was said to have described the proposed store as a "Pizza Hut pagoda."
If the Government rejects the council's proposal, then the administration will encourage Upper House MPs to disallow the planning scheme amendment enabling the project.

Councillor Leppert said the council lacked the power to block the development from going ahead. "This is one of the strongest positions we have taken," he said.

"It reminds me of a Pizza Hut pagoda and I just think it's like something that's rolled off an Apple Store production line," Cr Reece said.
Apple last month said the Federation Square location "respects the original vision for the plaza, with a bespoke design concept and extensive landscaping bringing increased opportunities for the community to enjoy this renowned cultural hub."

Despite uniting against the design of the store, Melbourne councillors are reportedly divided regarding further commercial development in Federation Square. Councillor Reece mentioned "with the right design," Apple's appearance in the area "could be a good thing." As pointed out by ABC in December, before becoming favored by the community today, Federation Square itself was a "controversial piece of architecture" when it was first built in 2002, "with many people dismissing it as ugly and strange."

Article Link: Apple's Planned Flagship Store in Melbourne, Australia Faces Backlash From City Council Over its Design
 
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From the picture, looks a bit out of place. Given that green / / open / park space - if accurate, I'm not surprised about people getting upset. Once open space has gone, its gone forever.
 
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During a city council meeting on Tuesday it was reported that Apple's design proposal for the location was "overwhelmingly" rejected by the community through about 800 public submissions disliking the look of the store.
"Melbourne is the capital city of Victoria with a population of over 4.8 million which accounts for 19.05% of national population."

800 dislikes out of 4.8 million people is not even close to "overwhelmingly". They must have nicer Pizza Huts in Australia than we have in the US.

Here is what is there now: https://www.google.com/maps/@-37.81...qtKf5YhnpGxL8MUylobp9VC808!2e10!7i8000!8i4000
 
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I would suggest build it like the Apple store in New York City on 5th avenue. All underground with the glass cube as the entrance above ground. That NYC store is simple but elegant on the outside and immense on the inside. The glass cube would be a much closer fit with the design of the other buildings at Federation Square too.
 
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From the picture, looks a bit out of place. Given that green / / open / park space - if accurate, I'm not surprised about people getting upset. Once green space has gone, its gone forever.

Only, it’s cureently a public square opposite a train station and the river. The new building will replace an existing building and if I recall correctly, would actually have provided more space around the building than currently.

I truly like Melbourne as a place and federation square is lovely, but the double standard right now is hilarious as a lot of the complaining is about a multinational corporation opening a store in a space that isn’t designed for that... well I guess they forgot about the 7-eleven that already exists in the square and looks a lot worse than an Apple store ever will!

Maybe when they remove the convenience store I’ll rethink my stance on a company like Apple spending money to design a new building.

That said, it could do with some work, some public consultation wouldn’t go amiss. But the public seems very misguided right now.

"Melbourne is the capital city of Victoria with a population of over 4.8 million which accounts for 19.05% of national population."

800 dislikes out of 4.8 million people is not even close to "overwhelmingly". They must have nicer Pizza Huts in Australia than we have in the US.

Melbourne is a very ‘green’ as in politics city.

I would suggest build it like the Apple store in New York City on 5th avenue. All underground with the glass cube as the entrance above ground. That NYC store is simple but elegant on the outside and immense on the inside. The glass cube would be a much closer fit with the design of the other buildings at Federation Square too.

I’m not certain, but the building next door might contain a gallery under the square already as it’s the Australian Centre for Moving Image (ACMI). That would face an even bigger backlash if they were asked to move for Apple.
 
Only, it’s cureently a public square opposite a train station and the river. The new building will replace an existing building and if I recall correctly, would actually have provided more space around the building than currently.

I truly like Melbourne as a place and federation square is lovely, but the double standard right now is hilarious as a lot of the complaining is about a multinational corporation opening a store in a space that isn’t designed for that... well I guess they forgot about the 7-eleven that already exists in the square and looks a lot worse than an Apple store ever will!

Maybe when they remove the convenience store I’ll rethink my stance on a company like Apple spending money to design a new building.

That said, it could do with some work, some public consultation wouldn’t go amiss. But the public seems very misguided right now.



Melbourne is a very ‘green’ as in politics city.



I’m not certain, but the building next door might contain a gallery under the square already as it’s the Australian Centre for Moving Image (ACMI). That would face an even bigger backlash if they were asked to move for Apple.
Is this the current building?
 

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From the picture, looks a bit out of place. Given that green / / open / park space - if accurate, I'm not surprised about people getting upset. Once open space has gone, its gone forever.

I can think of multiple exceptions to this in the area I live, where old, run-down parts of town that have since been turned into city parks and green spaces. It may be less common where real estate values are high, but typically the green spaces in those areas are public property and couldn't be sold.

That said, I see more Frank Lloyd Wright than I see Pizza Hut. Such is the life of an architect though!
 
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"Melbourne is the capital city of Victoria with a population of over 4.8 million which accounts for 19.05% of national population."

800 dislikes out of 4.8 million people is not even close to "overwhelmingly". They must have nicer Pizza Huts in Australia than we have in the US.

Here is what is there now: https://www.google.com/maps/@-37.81...qtKf5YhnpGxL8MUylobp9VC808!2e10!7i8000!8i4000
No offense intended to the people who live and work there, but that Google Maps view is not very flattering. The Apple proposal is odd looking but it does sort of fit right in with the prevailing color scheme and angular buildings already there. Hard to tell without seeing it in person.

Lol...don’t mind me, though, I want to see a Renaissance Fair themed shopping plaza. :p
 
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Given how many people were horrified at Federation Square's current design when it was first proposed, and now everyone seemingly loves it and wants to stop them changing anything, could it not be that the people currently objecting to Foster and Partners' design for the new Apple store simply don't understand how it will look and fit into the square once it's actually built?

The lead architect of Federation Square, Donald Bates, wrote a very interesting piece highlighting his support for the store design and why he thinks it's a suitable replacement for the existing building:

https://architectureau.com/articles...an-apple-flagship-store-at-federation-square/

He also notes that it's less obtrusive than the existing building and opens up the sight lines to the river:

"The proposed building has a reduced footprint relative to the existing building and will expand the public space of the plaza. It will allow for a new relationship to emerge between the plaza and the river – one that we were never able to achieve within the budget limitations of the original competition."

The entire last paragraph of his article is worth quoting, but rather than do that and create a wall of text here, I'd recommend going and reading the page instead - it's an interesting read!
 
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"Melbourne is the capital city of Victoria with a population of over 4.8 million which accounts for 19.05% of national population."

800 dislikes out of 4.8 million people is not even close to "overwhelmingly". They must have nicer Pizza Huts in Australia than we have in the US.

Here is what is there now: https://www.google.com/maps/@-37.81...qtKf5YhnpGxL8MUylobp9VC808!2e10!7i8000!8i4000
Actually, you need to do a little more research, the 800 written submissions were 1) made within very short 72 hour period, 2) a record for the Council. The submissions are extremely overwhelming when put in the context. (Simply quoting a population and using that as a comparison missed the point.)

Combined with more than 75000 petitions against, this one Apple store that is NOT acceptable on both the DESIGN and LOCATION. Both the DESIGN and LOCATION are terrible.

Apple is not welcome at Federation Square according to the people in Melbourne. There are many other retail locations Apple can consider instead.

I think Apple needs to determine whether it wants to fight a city or realize it's not welcome at that particular location and find another place in a different area altogether.
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I've been in Melbourne a couple of times but last time was too long ago, what I remember from Melbourne was there were plenty of old buildings, if that's the case then why not have a store similar like the ones below.
Apple has decided it now wants to appropriate and take over public spaces in various countries instead of staying put in retail locations. Like malware, Apple seeks to infect public areas. It's a very bad look for a company I half respect.
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I would suggest build it like the Apple store in New York City on 5th avenue. All underground with the glass cube as the entrance above ground. That NYC store is simple but elegant on the outside and immense on the inside. The glass cube would be a much closer fit with the design of the other buildings at Federation Square too.
The trouble is this is public cultural space that Apple wants to set up in. It's not retail space. The area in which Apple wants to set up is not the right area. So even a glass cube is not acceptable to the people there in Melbourne.
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Only, it’s cureently a public square opposite a train station and the river. The new building will replace an existing building and if I recall correctly, would actually have provided more space around the building than currently.

I truly like Melbourne as a place and federation square is lovely, but the double standard right now is hilarious as a lot of the complaining is about a multinational corporation opening a store in a space that isn’t designed for that... well I guess they forgot about the 7-eleven that already exists in the square and looks a lot worse than an Apple store ever will!

Maybe when they remove the convenience store I’ll rethink my stance on a company like Apple spending money to design a new building.

That said, it could do with some work, some public consultation wouldn’t go amiss. But the public seems very misguided right now.



Melbourne is a very ‘green’ as in politics city.



I’m not certain, but the building next door might contain a gallery under the square already as it’s the Australian Centre for Moving Image (ACMI). That would face an even bigger backlash if they were asked to move for Apple.
It's completely different. 7 Eleven, is commercial, and offers food and beverages, true. But moving an Apple store in, completely corporatises the space with little to no added value.

FYI, here is an image of 7 eleven. It's completely discrete and fits within the original architecture. The Apple store is a complete monstrosity in comparison

MG-6699-melbourne-federation-square-20091116.jpg

[doublepost=1517939178][/doublepost]
I walk through Federation Square every day as I work in the city.

Looking forward to providing up to date pictures for you guys as it progresses :)
It's not happening in Federation Square. Demolishing a cultural building that houses an Aboriginal community group. The people there have banded together to stop it. You'll have to take photos of it somewhere else in the city.
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Given how many people were horrified at Federation Square's current design when it was first proposed, and now everyone seemingly loves it and wants to stop them changing anything, could it not be that the people currently objecting to Foster and Partners' design for the new Apple store simply don't understand how it will look and fit into the square once it's actually built?

The lead architect of Federation Square, Donald Bates, wrote a very interesting piece highlighting his support for the store design and why he thinks it's a suitable replacement for the existing building:

https://architectureau.com/articles...an-apple-flagship-store-at-federation-square/

He also notes that it's less obtrusive than the existing building and opens up the sight lines to the river:

"The proposed building has a reduced footprint relative to the existing building and will expand the public space of the plaza. It will allow for a new relationship to emerge between the plaza and the river – one that we were never able to achieve within the budget limitations of the original competition."

The entire last paragraph of his article is worth quoting, but rather than do that and create a wall of text here, I'd recommend going and reading the page instead - it's an interesting read!
It's a very poor read. The article Don Bates has written that you link to is very luke warm and not convincing anybody.

Actually, Don Bates 5 years earlier was talking up the success of the Square! From 20 seconds:

[doublepost=1517939705][/doublepost]
I think it looks very cool. People are notoriously conservative when introduced to something new in the concept stage, but quickly get used to things when they become a reality.
It is an interesting design, but the LOCATION is what is wrong here. The location is not acceptable to the people there in Australia Melbourne not the design per se.
 
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I have to admit, part of the issue here *IS* Apple's design. I would vote to request a new design, strictly on the grounds that I sure wouldn't want Apple to put stores that look like this in the US. Come on, Apple. What happened to your design aesthetic? I'm appreciating the "glass cube" more all the time. :)

Ok, fine, I'm starting to get more used to it now - especially if the brass hat rim is actually made of some supernatural, exotic material never before used in a building. But seriously, I agree with the posts that say surely Apple can design something better. Maybe for inspiration, they could start with photos of existing Apple stores and pick out the coolest ones for initial ideas. It will be interesting to see where they put the 40+ foot television in a building where all 4 walls are glass.
 
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I've been in Melbourne a couple of times but last time was too long ago, what I remember from Melbourne was there were plenty of old buildings, if that's the case then why not have a store similar like the ones below.
The examples you give are all Apple Stores built into small parts of large existing buildings, thus they follow the design of the existing building. This is a case where Apple is building a new free-standing building. It follows the style of many of their other recent free-standing stores (along with parts of their new campus). And judging from the google maps 360 view that Fender2112 posted, if they built a building that looked like any of your examples, it would look nearly as out of place in the plaza as Apple's proposed building.
 
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