The plaza outside the new Apple Store in Chicago is aluminumly fantastic. It actually outshines the Apple Store itself. The store is essentially one long hallway. The simplicity inside the store is nice, but was very crowded. Perhaps I should try going back there in a month when the store is empty.
The plaza outside was very nice. A few years ago it it was just a weedy field. Now we have a nice plaza with a fountain and aluminum tables… wait… ALUMINUM tables? Yes! They look just like the aluminum Macbooks. I like to call them iTables, Apple’s newest innovation. Slim trim sleek tables. The iTable can sense when you put your Macbook on it, and it will not only automatically check you into Foursquare, it will give you a sandwich.
The entire outside of the store is also clad in aluminum (or something that looks like aluminum). When sitting outside the store, I get the feeling that it’s one super duper Macintosh Pro Tower. All the computers on display inside are actually processors for this monster Mac. It features 1,444 cores of processing power 64 THz (that’s 64 TeraHerz, or 6,400 GHz). Buy one today and you’ll also get the cooling pond fountain.
Now if we could only get aluminum slides inside the North/Clybourn station. Can you imagine sliding down one big slide to the train?
Blair Kamin had a few interesting things to say about the Lincoln Park Apple store: http://bit.ly/kaminversusjobs
Kamin. You are a nice guy. Good points. Smart. Here’s a few areas I disagree with you. 1) North Avenue and Halsted is hardly like Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Did we really expect Apple to come up with a super duper fantastic design for what is essentially a neighbhorhood store? I didn’t. It’s like saying, “Gee why didn’t IKEA make a super design statement in Woodfield?” But to Kamin’s point, I’m sure he would make in response, is that Chicago is a center for architecture, and that doesn’t limit itself to the loop area. The neighborhoods of Chicago also celebrate in the architectural greatness. So perhaps I can stand down from my point one. 2) I agree with Kamin on how it’s nice that Apple refreshed the North/Clybourn stop, and that Apple didn’t do anything too overly garish. BUT, Mr. Kamin. Have you ridden the red line recently? Try it sometime. When you are on the train and you stop at the North and Clybourn stop, notice how the bright wide ads–placed at window level on the train–shine in super bright into the train. It’s quite a scene. I personally like it. I don’t think you’d appreciate the loudness though. 3) The triangle plot with the rectangle building is a good point. But you are missing something here, Mr. Kamin. This building is rather unique in that it’s like a hallway. A gateway, if you will. Note, what does the gateway connect? The north and the south. Take a look at the surrounding neighborhood. Walk just two blocks south and you’ll see a completely different neighborhood than a couple blocks north of the Apple store. In a way this Apple store represents a gateway into the lavish lifestyle of Lincoln Park. (i’m just not so sure that is a fantastic thing). But it does show that perhaps they are customizing this building to the area (despite it starting from another design). 4) Kamin’s point about the Halsted wall is a good one. But really, who will walk by this wall when you’ve got a perfectly nice and open store to walk through? (i’m saying this semi-joking, because Kamin is right that we need to consider what cars and other people walking by experience that side of the store, and also what happens when the store is closed and pedestrians can’t walk through the store). I think I might paste my comment here on Kamin’s article as well.