Sketch of proposed Boston Apple Store

Kevin (13), stop trolling. It's from 1902 and it was an auto store. It's practically begging to be torn down.

And don't be dumb -- no one would be allowed to set up store inside a building from the 17th century, and you know this.

I have heard that the building the want to demolish dates back to the 1600s!

I personally like the 3 floors.

I like it! They have worked around and kept the integrity of the old buildings while modernizing them without making it look like a modern piece of crap.

I personally think that store looks cool!

Once in a while I visit Boston and I wouldn't mind calling in to that store it looks so cool and so modern.

This probably won't mean much to people who don't live or work in Boston's Back Bay, but I'd like to take this opportunity to reiterate how much the Back Bay Architectural Commission utterly sucks. I just finished 18 months working in the building Apple wants to tear down, and all I can say is I'd be more than willing to help rip that eyesore down. The place is a pit, inside and out, and - as Apple pointed out - has zero historical significance. And it literally stinks, as in smells bad from the mold and god knows what else growing in the basement.

I can't imagine what the BBAC is complaining about here: there's no reason to keep the building, and if they're opposed to modern design I have to boggle at the hypocrisy when you consider the design of 801 Boylston Street (2 stores down) and the massive and ugly Mandarin Oriental hotel under construction directly accross the street (http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Third_Party_Photo/2005/05/18/1116409454_2054.jpg).

The best thing that could happen to the back bay is to get rid of the geriatric Marlboro Street idiots that make up the BBAC - they are responsible for limiting Boston's economic development, from blocking Planet Hollywood moving into 801 Boylston to virtually ensuring the death of the Hynes Convention Center by blocking a number of businesses that would have attracted convention goers.

Death to the BBAC!

This is the "historic" area they're trying to protect:
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=42.348794~-71.082933&style=o&lvl=2&scene=2978484&sp=adr.Boylston%20St%2c%20Boston%2c%20MA%2002115

What a crock of BS. Copy Cop is the blue awnings IIRC. The Pru tower on the left is a masterpiece of 70s poured concrete, the Lord & Taylor store is an ugly white box surrounding the old Lennox Hotel... Even on the side of the street that the BBAC controls things aren't much better. Lots of sidwalk seating for restaurants, though why anyone wants to sit and watch the cabs and duck busses crawl down Boylston is beyond me. It's just not a part of town I would think of as worthy of an architechtural commission and they clearly don't know good architechture when they see it. It'll serve them right if Apple doesn't come to their snooty neighborhood. It's not as if we're short of Apple Stores in metro Boston anyway...

Does anybody know if the Apple's architect is still Bohlin Cywinski Jackson? Does anybody care? It's still a shock to me that these type of articles only call it "Apple's" new design. The architect holds just as much responsibility (if not more) as to whether the design goes through or not. And as a side note, the design is not "extreme" at all. It's in a very refined Modernist style that's been around for over 50 years.

I think with some work the building that is currently there would make a great Apple store.

just so everyone is aware, the BBAC is notorious in boston for being comprised of old, rich, bitchy, people who really don't want anything to change. they just recently forced a restaurant to remove a piece of art outside (a largeish colorfully painted whale) because it "didn't match the architechture the back bay" or something like that. so you can only imagine the trouble apple is going to have getting this to fly.

they're only rivaled by their beacon hill counterparts