Having lived in the Netherlands for the first nearly 20 years of my life, I can tell you that most Dutch women wear pants. I think a large part of it has to do with the fact that people ride their bicycles everywhere, so dresses are less practical.
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Stunning Photo of Glass Staircase at Amsterdam Retail Store
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Having lived in the Netherlands for the first nearly 20 years of my life, I can tell you that most Dutch women wear pants. I think a large part of it has to do with the fact that people ride their bicycles everywhere, so dresses are less practical.
Most Apple stores you go to to play with the Macs and iPads. This one you'll go to to watch all the stoned tourists walk into the stairs glass base like pigeons smashing into a window. Can't wait for the YouTube videos.
Standing on a window make it break. They are minimally thin for their use.
Standing on a 2" thick plate of glass is like standing on concrete. If it isn't too long.
Durability... well, you do realize glass scratches under diamonds. It doesn't scratch easily otherwise. It can chip and break, but it's the Apple Store. Flesh and cloth and small electronics.
This store is made with a (probably) 10/15/20 maximum lifespan. They don't build stores to be forever-decor. It's a brag, an experience, art that advertises to get people INTO the store. This works.
Think of the children..
I don't get it , Apple claim to be this great eco friendly environmental company and now they are wasting up the Earth's precious sand resources on fancy pants staircases?
First they've been wilfully squandering silicon on their integrated circuits, and now this.
What will our grandchildren use to make sandcastles on the beach?
I don't get it , Apple claim to be this great eco friendly environmental company and now they are wasting up the Earth's precious sand resources on fancy pants staircases?
First they've been wilfully squandering silicon on their integrated circuits, and now this.
What will our grandchildren use to make sandcastles on the beach?
Well, I can assure that not everyone here in Holland (where I live) is stoned 24/7.
For the ones who wanted a sneak peek at the Genius Bar:
I'm actually an architect with 20 years experience and have done my share of high-end retail and restaurants, thanks.
Glass scratches and fractures under a lot of conditions. The fact that its' tempered (at the rails) doesn't prevent that. With as much traffic as that store is going to get, that baluster is also going to getting exposed to more than cloth and flesh. Carabiners on backpacks. Keys. Jewelry. Tourist asshats trying to damage it. Best-case scenario, it will probably need to be constantly wiped down, or it will be covered in handprints. It's a nuisance, and one I wouldn't take on as an owner, but that's just me. I understand its purpose and it does photograph well if you like that sort of thing.
The fact that the treads are laminated doesn't prevent people from tracking dirt, gum, etc on them constantly. This isn't a movie theater in terms of gunk on the floor, but there's a reason you don't see a bunch of shock-white floor finishes. With glass treads, you get to see the grunge from above and below.
And yes, this is a forum where all of us are sharing our opinions. Since people asked, my work experience happens to be about making nice places, including designing monumental stairs, and I'd have done it differently. Big deal. Gaudy and ostentatious are obviously in the eye of the beholder.
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I'm not an architect and know nothing at all about making glass staircases, but I know there are lots of different ways of making glass, with varying properties.
So do you actually know the type of glass which is being used in this Apple staircase and the strength/durability properties of it, or does it not matter really because your experience is wide enough to have a full understanding of the different options?
Are you saying, perhaps, that it is impossible to make glass tough enough for something like that staircase to be durable, or is it that you could theoretically make glass that tough but it would be far too expensive?
The treads on this staircase look really sturdy but its a clever individual who has made the rest of it solid. If I built something like this, it would fall down down if my hamster tried to climb it.
And I dont even have a hamster.
Stunning work.
It clearly demonstrates Apples HUGE commitment.
Whereas this, I guess, demonstrates their MASSIVE pledge:
And I dont even have a hamster.
Stunning work.
It clearly demonstrates Apples HUGE commitment.
Whereas this, I guess, demonstrates their MASSIVE pledge:
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Well, I can assure that not everyone here in Holland (where I live) is stoned 24/7.
Which is why I said tourists.
I've been to Amsterdam many times -- never to get stoned b/c there's plenty else to see and do. I was joking. Sheesh. There's a coffee shop every three feet and they all sell t-shirts for teen and early 20's tourists to take home as some kind of badge of honor.
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The staircase on Oxford Street has a few large chips on the treads already; the first appeared after a few months. Metal tipped heels help to chip at the edges. I can't say that I notice the dirt or fingerprints as I tend to look at where I am heading to.
None of us can say what is "tough enough" or "too expensive" because we don't what the owner is prepared to tolerate.
Did I design this stair? No. Do I have an understanding of what products are available on the market and how that stair is engineered to do what it does and still meet building codes? Yes. While this is purpose-built, architectural glass, it isn't a miracle product.
Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (or whoever did this store) probably achieved exactly what the owner wanted with this stair. My point was there are downsides and risks to using these products they did - not catastrophic failure, but enough issues that would make me caution the owner and probably steer them another way, even if I liked the way this looks and had an unlimited budget.
Then forgive me for misreading your commentWhich is why I said tourists.
I'm planning on going to this Apple Store asap. Since I can't be there at the opening of the store I guess I will be visiting the store in a few weeks after.
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)
Yeh its much better if you chop down some trees and make it from wood?????? If ur joking i dont see the joke, if ur serious, Really?????
SmoMo said:
Yeh its much better if you chop down some trees and make it from wood?????? If ur joking i dont see the joke, if ur serious, Really?????
skirts OK
Actually, that's not required. The surface is pebbled so the step is translucent, not transparent. That also helps with traction on the stair step.
You can see this most easily on the upper platform.
Actually, that's not required. The surface is pebbled so the step is translucent, not transparent. That also helps with traction on the stair step.
You can see this most easily on the upper platform.
They're not transparent, and never are (which I assume is what you're talking about since a lot of people seem to think they are), however it might be a good idea to do something about those gaps in between the stairs... You flash people with each step.
To be honest, I don't quite understand all the awe. Both the 5th Ave. and Upper West Sides stores have the exact same staircase, and the Chelsea store has one that connects 3 levels. Within the historic building, okay, I get it, but aren't there other stores outside NYC that have these staircases?
Actually, this store looks a whole lot like the Fifth Avenue store in NYC:
http://www.apple.com/retail/fifthavenue/
Well, gotta love Europe for that: In most countries, there is no such thing as "indecent exposure." In Frankfurt, a student was taken to court for being a nudist and the court made him wearing a thong in winter so he doesn't freeze something off. Rest of the year, he can be naked. That is not a rumor - he went to one of my classes at JWG University and he squeezed trough the rows... but that is a different story. Essentially, if the girls like it, they can wear skirts!
No wonder you're out of breath you'd have to move it. They don't have a store in Oxford Street, it's Regents Street....
picky, picky....