GM + Apple = the Louvre?

[macreator]

And, correct me if I'm wrong, I believe there is another Chase directly across the street on the Southwest corner.

[infoshare]

The apple cube set in the open plaza is an artful compliment to the GM building. But, that base (http://farm1.static.flickr.com/168/415865190_e8c4cd41b2_b.jpg) build-out is not a good 'fit'. :mad:

[macreator]

It also made the sidewalk narrower. I would have loved to have seen some street trees and a little more pedestrian room come from the new base construction.

[antinimby]

Just curious - anyone have a photo of what that part of the base facing Madison Ave. looked like before that base was added?

[DarrylStrawberry]

And, correct me if I'm wrong, I believe there is another Chase directly across the street on the Southwest corner.

Actually they closed the branch between 5th and Madison on 58th street when they opened this one.

[macreator]

Actually they closed the branch between 5th and Madison on 58th street when they opened this one.

Thank god. I pictured a situation similar to the two Duane Reades across the street from each other at the intersection of 57th street and Broadway. One is on the Southwest corner, the other is on the Southeast corner.

Someone told me they're going to close one of them but not until the lease is up in a few years.

[macreator]

So in other Apple Cube + GM Plaza news:

Apple briefly put up an ad on Monday for their upcoming iPhone product.

The ad was posted on the Southern face of the cube and was inexplicably taken down within a few hours.

http://images.macrumors.com/article/2007/03/12/store3.jpg
Image courtesy of Macrumors (http://www.macrumors.com)

Is it possible the ad violated City codes or something? I know the City had been cracking down on illegal advertising. Anyone know if ads in a privately owned public space are illegal?

[lofter1]

I don't think that ^^^ is against code -- all sorts of stores throughout SoHo fill their windows with ads / branding of all sorts -- it gets them around the Landmarks restrictions on signage on the outside of the building.

More likely it's an example of stealth advertising -- Apple got more press coverage out of the image being up for a couple of hours (witness curbed and here) than they would by keeping it up. Plus cell cams are spreading the image around the globe.

[BigMac]

michaelnyc on Flickr
September 7, 2007

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1067/1347627488_851f6f8334_b.jpg

[Derek2k3]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4107/5045877695_91363b759d_o.jpg
antonkisselgoff (http://www.flickr.com/photos/antonkisselgoff/5045877695/sizes/o/in/pool-35034350743@N01/)

Makes me want to start a new architecture appreciation thread. Amidst lots of schlock we've managed to build a couple dozen decent structures.

[Merry]

Apple 5th Ave., 2.0

by Samuel Medina

http://www.architizer.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/apple-600x515.jpg (http://www.architizer.com/blog/dyn/27141/apple-updated/)

If you’ve walked by Apple’s 5th Avenue flagship store this summer, you’d have known that the iconic Cube was undergoing some construction work. But you may not have guessed that Apple was giving the five-year old store a re-haul, dismantling the Cube and erecting a newer one comprised of a fewer number of new, larger panes of glass.

This week the blank temporary walls obstructing the store’s structure were replaced with illustrated boards detailing the exact nature of the construction work. The original Cube’s 90 pieces of glass will be swapped out for just 15 panes of glass, whose 10 feet wide X 32 feet high dimensions are both imposing and seemingly unstable, while the lack of any visible connectors is just concerning. The connectors are actually embedded within the glass panes themselves, attributing to a cleaner, more simplified Cube.

The project will reportedly cost $6.7 million and is expected to be completed by November. Given Apple’s streak for innovation (and Steve Job’s fastidiousness), the project shouldn’t come as a surprise. Neither should you forget that Apple promised a new type of continuously curved glazed wall when the company announced its new headquarters (aka “the best office building in the world”).

http://www.architizer.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/0newaplcub03.jpg (http://www.architizer.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/0newaplcub03.jpg)
Rendering of the new and improved Cube.

http://www.architizer.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/0newaplcub021-436x800.jpg (http://www.architizer.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/0newaplcub021.jpg)

http://www.architizer.com/en_us/blog/dyn/27141/apple-updated/

[antinimby]

Not sure less is better in this case. The connectors actually gives the cube more interesting details that the new one will be lacking.

[nykid17]

The new design seems to be more in line with the GM building though. Both will now have very pronounced vertical bands, instead of the cube having both vertical and horizontal ones.

[Fallout]

I got to agree with antinimby on this one. The simpler version seems watered down.

[BigMac]

Over the Top of NY (http://www.flickr.com/photos/overthetopofny/6219300728/) on Flickr
October 6, 2011

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6211/6219300728_f12cd8cf92_b.jpg

[eltodesukane]

$6.7 million to redo a cube that's already there? What a waste...

[Pinkie]

Not for the #1 company in the world!

[lofter1]

When are they going to peel that sucker?

[NoyokA]

I originally thought it was ridiculous and for vanity reasons but it turns out the imperitus was structural reasons.

[Fimiak]

In another ten year it will go from 15 pieces down to 5. Just some big panes of glass :)

[WizardOfOss]

In another ten year it will go from 15 pieces down to 5. Just some big panes of glass :)Why not a glass unibody design?

[infoshare]

Why not a glass unibody design?

For the same 'reasons' that the current glass cube is being removed: structural and 'safety' considerations.

[BigMac]

MacRumors
November 4, 2011

Apple's New Fifth Avenue Store Cube Fully Revealed

By Eric Slivka

http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2011/11/new_fifth_avenue_cube_front.jpg

While Apple's Fifth Avenue retail store in Manhattan is not set to reopen until 10:00 AM this morning, crews have completed their work on the revamped glass cube, fully revealing the streamlined design for the first time.

http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2011/11/new_fifth_avenue_cube_back.jpg

MacRumors reader Vincent sent along these photos of the new cube, which utilizes only 15 panes of glass rather than the 90 used in the original cube. The new cube is also "seamless", doing away with nearly all of the hardware that previously held the panes of glass together.

In addition to the new cube, Apple has also upgraded the plaza, refreshing or installing new water drains and pavers while removing the small bollards that had previously surrounded the cube.

Update: YouTube user patjem2 has posted a brief video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37uHcu__f_U&feature=player_embedded) showing the new cube and a growing crowd of customers just prior to the store's reopening.

A second video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UddbWVKGtCE) also shows the first customers entering the newly-reopened store through the updated glass cube.

Copyright © 2000-2011 MacRumors.com, LLC.

[RoldanTTLB]

Looks like they also ditched the depression from when, I think, this was a third fountain.

[BigMac]

michael_pictures (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike5711220/6320074469/) on Flickr
November 6, 2011

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6042/6320074469_081d5dea5c_b.jpg

[Derek2k3]

Kind of a downgrade. All those intersecting panes and components in the previous version refracted light like a diamond. Now it's a bit blah.

[MidtownGuy]

^ 100% agree. I passed by here last night and it's no longer the prismatic spectacle that it used to be. Sort of dead. There's no there there.