Over the past 10 years, the stretch of Manhattan along Broadway from Columbus Circle to 72nd Street has been continually improving making it immeasurably finer, safer, and more fun than it has ever been. The new Apple Store is now receiving credit for being a large contributor to the more recent transformations in the area.
If you’re at all familiar with the Broadway stretch of Manhattan that goes from Columbus Circle to 72nd Street then you’re likely to be equally familiar with the amazing transformations the area has seen over the past 10 years. The new Apple Store which opened at 1981 Broadway, on the northwest corner of 67th Street, is not only a true representation of the architectural innovation that most Apple stores turn out to be, but it is also receiving recognition for playing a large role in the continued revolution of the area.
In the past year alone, Broadway has seen Diller Scofidio + Renfro complete its revision of Pietro Belluschi’s façade for Alice Tully Hall, the Harmony Atrium transformed by Tod Williams and Billie Tsien as part of the Lincoln Center, and Apple’s in-house designers with Steve Jobs create its bold and beautifully contemporary new store.
With regards to Broadway’s Apple store, some are going as far as to say that it outshines its counterpart store (or “cube”) on Fifth Avenue with its bold and inventive luxuriously expansive emptiness emanating clean and pure brightness. What is similar between this store and other Apple stores is the abundance of people swarming around nearly total absence of things inside the store. On Broadway, beneath the towering glass ceiling there are just a few low set tables subtlety displaying iPod, iPhones, and computers, but very little else. The probable intentionality of the contrast is certainly dramatic, allowing the brand’s technology to speak for itself.
