Redesigned 5th Avenue NYC Apple Store Unveiling on Friday?

[MacRumors]

Artist Rendition​

We've heard a couple of reports that Apple will finally unveiling their newly renovated 5th Avenue Apple NYC store on Friday, November 4th.

Apple began work on the $6.6 million renovation back in June. Since then, the 5th Avenue Store has been surrounded by barriers and the store has remained open as the construction has continued. The redesign involves replacing the cube's 90 glass panels with only 15 larger ones. The new design is rendered artistically above.

​

Steve Jobs, himself, had much input into this Apple Retail Store's design. The Wall Street Journal had previously reported that Jobs had a very hands-on role. The developer said:

"[Steve Jobs] is solely responsible for the cube," Mr. Macklowe said. "I had different shapes and different ideas, and his cube was somewhat different than what it is now, but it's Steve Jobs's idea."

Jobs has had a long fascination with the cube shape. During his time at NeXT he created the NeXTcube workstation housed in a magnesium enclosure. Apple even created a Power Mac G4 Cube in 2000, a few years after Jobs' return to Apple.

A November 4th unveiling falls in line with the original permits which estimated "early November" as a possible completion date. If the grand unveiling is indeed taking place this Friday, we expect Apple will make an announcement this week to inform the press.

Article Link: Redesigned 5th Avenue NYC Apple Store Unveiling on Friday?

 

[macnerd93]

looks a lot sleeker and minimalist I like it

 

[dndlnx]

I dunno, I think the more glass panels looks cool too.

 

[wordoflife]

That was completely worth the $6.6B it costed to get it renovated. I'm serious, it looks sick. I thought it was cool before, but damn. Can you imagine? Replacing 90 glass panels with only 15?

Can't wait to check it out in person.

 

[nerdo]

The most transparent thing Apple has done in years.

 

[dndlnx]

Hmmm how'd they get that photo, if it's not unveiled yet?

 

[cactus33]

Hmmm how'd they get that photo, if it's not unveiled yet?

" The new design is rendered artistically above. '

 

[hobo.hopkins]

That was completely worth the $6.6B it costed to get it renovated. I'm serious, it looks sick. I thought it was cool before, but damn. Can you imagine? Replacing 90 glass panels with only 15?

Can't wait to check it out in person.

It was an expensive renovation, but not that expensive It cost 6.6 Million dollars; it didn't cost 6.6 Billion dollars.

 

[dndlnx]

Below the photo it states "Artist Rendition"

" The new design is rendered artistically above. '

Doh!

 

[ReanimationN]

Based on the artist rendition, I think I liked it better before. It looked amazing in person, the glass seams between the panels shimmered and refracted light, bending it into these amazing patterns- removing panels is going to reduce that effect.

 

[rdowns]

Below the photo it states "Artist Rendition"

I wonder if Arn hired the same guy who did the 'iPhone 5' rendering.

 

[jaw04005]

This is mentioned in his book. This renovation was completely a pet project by Jobs. Apparently, Ron Johnson disagreed with the new design (and likely the additional unnecessary costs), but Jobs went ahead with it anyway.

I personally like the old cube better. Only Apple would redesign what's become a landmark.

 

[kingtj]

I dunno ....

I'm liking it from the technical aspect of the challenges required to build it with so few panels .... yet at the same time, I think it doesn't stand out enough in front of the building behind it now. It's like they spent all that money to make sure you barely notice it.

Personally, I would have suggested looking into colored/tinted glass -- perhaps a blue tint? Something like that would have looked more striking, and been amazing to light up at night too.

That was completely worth the $6.6B it costed to get it renovated. I'm serious, it looks sick. I thought it was cool before, but damn. Can you imagine? Replacing 90 glass panels with only 15?

Can't wait to check it out in person.

 

[Kaibelf]

Based on the artist rendition, I think I liked it better before. It looked amazing in person, the glass seams between the panels shimmered and refracted light, bending it into these amazing patterns- removing panels is going to reduce that effect.

One man's "shimmer" is another man's "gaudy." I have a feeling that at certain parts of the day the reflections got a little too prismatic and diffuse, and ruined the effect they wanted (which is basically, feeling like you're not indoors at all).

Personally, I would have suggested looking into colored/tinted glass -- perhaps a blue tint? Something like that would have looked more striking, and been amazing to light up at night too.

I disagree, because then you'd be stuck with "what color is YOUR Apple Store?" It would be way too early iMac, and would distract from the products.

This is mentioned in his book. This renovation was completely a pet project by Jobs. Apparently, Ron Johnson disagreed with the new design (and likely the additional unnecessary costs), but Jobs went ahead with it anyway.

I personally like the old cube better. Only Apple would redesign what's become a landmark.

That's totally Apple's M.O. Even though something is gorgeous and makes a splash (Cube store, iPhone, iMac), you redesign it to make it look even slicker (Cube redesign, iPhone4, iMac). Steve Jobs has for many years done things that certain advisors didn't want. Never underestimate the power of saying no. otherwise, Apple's products would have a much cheaper feel to them.

 

[saxofunk]

Did everyone forget?

Steve was contracted to get that original cube after the 5th Ave store was done with it. Here's hoping for some sort of memorial...

Maybe they'll use it at the new mothership campus?

 

[ibadukefan]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

Who cares, where is iTunes Match!!??

 

[Cougarcat]

Based on the artist rendition, I think I liked it better before. It looked amazing in person, the glass seams between the panels shimmered and refracted light, bending it into these amazing patterns- removing panels is going to reduce that effect.

That's exactly the reason Ron Jonson was opposed to it. From the bio:

Ron Jonson was thrilled with the idea. He thought the eighteen panes actually looked better than four panes would. "The proportions we have today work magically with the colonnade of the GM building," he said. I think if we get the class too transparent, it will go away to a fault" (377).

 

[davtomcol]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/9A334)

I'm excited for this. I'm taking a trip to NYC this week, and I get in on Friday. Hopefully it will be unveiled that day.

 

[Stuipdboy1000]

Interesting to note that there are no workshops or events on Friday morning at the store. Maybe a re-grand opening?

 

[marcusj0015]

What "technical challenges"?

they should have used 5 panels, one for each side tbh.

 

[Cougarcat]

What "technical challenges"?

they should have used 5 panels, one for each side tbh.

In the bio, Steve mentions that they had to build their own autoclaves in china to make the glass. If they had used the technology available, the cube would have been a foot shorter.

Making 5 huge panes isn't possible with current technology.

 

[jaw04005]

Steve was contracted to get that original cube after the 5th Ave store was done with it. Here's hoping for some sort of memorial...

Maybe they'll use it at the new mothership campus?

Actually, I thought about that after he died. Wasn't it rumored that Jobs paid for the cube himself?

Personally, I don't see them doing anything like that. This is a pet project Jobs wanted done before he died and nothing more.

 

[digitalhen]

We've heard a couple of reports that Apple will finally unveiling their newly renovated 5th Avenue Apple NYC store on Friday, November 4th. [/url]

Shame this particular store is always horribly busy

 

[Exotic-Car Man]

Live to see the day

Personally, I find it depressing that Jobs didn't live to see the day that his biography apparently calls his "pet project."

I've never been in or seen the 5th avenue store myself, but the artist rendition looks fantastic. At first, I thought it was only five panels. Eventually, the iconic store may be composed of only five panels and a door. Now that would be astounding!

 

[yeknommonkey]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

I'm not sure about this one. being so 'minimalist' it's whole look is basically down to the building behind it. is this not a case of "the emperors new store?"