Filed under: Retail, Bad Apple
Architects asleep at the wheel at Miami Beach store
Granted, I've never really been a fan of the architecture in Miami, but this has gone too far. Instead of the sleek minimalist aluminum monolith we have all come to know and love from our Apple Stores, the Lincoln Road store breaks the mold with its bold facade featuring a metal Apple centered in a square of corrugated metal. Yes, corrugated metal, such as one would find in a shanty town. Now, I understand if the community wanted a more low key design, but why didn't Apple go with something tasteful like its SoHo store?
Maybe it's just me. Maybe I have some high-and-mighty castle-on-a-hill vision of how all Apple Stores should be. But even so, the design doesn't reflect any of the design sense we have come to expect from Apple, and that is certainly a disappointment.
Photo and story via ifoAppleStore
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Sir Not Appearing in this Blog said 5:35PM on 7-11-2006
It's very art deco. Looks good to me, but what do I know?
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narco said 5:38PM on 7-11-2006
It looks like it should only sell colored "clamshell" iBooks from the late 90's. Maybe they'll be displayed on a couple surf boards.
Fishes,
narco.
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moquiti said 5:43PM on 7-11-2006
BTW, it's not corrugated metal. It's plaster, like the rest of the surfaces.
While corrugation is an element of the historical style, this is not a particularly facile example.
Ham-handed, one might say.
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Steve CC said 5:43PM on 7-11-2006
Guess they wanted to keep with Miami's Art Deco architecture. I like the architecture in Miami and think the store fits in nicely.
But why is apple blending in here while it wants to take a radical departure from the local architecture in boston?
I guess they want contrast in boston... 1800s classic architecture mixed with 21st century modern is a cool look. Not nearly as cool as the contrast between art-deco and 21st century modern would be... i mean the gap in styles is only 60 years or so as opposed to 200.
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takagawa said 5:44PM on 7-11-2006
Relax, they haven't even finished it yet.
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Nate said 5:46PM on 7-11-2006
It is not traditional Apple style but still nice! Looks like coming from the history. :)
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Jumi said 5:46PM on 7-11-2006
From the linked article: "The design reflects the 7 block-long pedestrian mall’s original architecture, which dates back to the 1920s, with an update in 1960 and an area revival in the 1990s."
So, you think Apple should resesign the entire look of every mall area they locate in? Please!
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Jordan said 5:48PM on 7-11-2006
Having worked down there, I know that Miami Beach has very strict building codes that include requirments which force new development to match the Art Deco look of the rest of historic Miami Beach. Depending on where the store location, Apple may have been forced to flow these codes and, thus, their deco look and feel to the exterior. I'd certainly say that this will only effect the exterior design.
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cbuck said 5:52PM on 7-11-2006
Post as worthless as this comment. Maybe the store in context with the surrounding buildings would have given the reader some "real" perspective?
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monitron said 5:53PM on 7-11-2006
Oh come on... corrugated metal is everyone's favorite building material. Just visit your local Chipotle (http://www.chipotle.com/) to see another tasteful use of this fantastic medium.
(OK, I hate Miami architecture too, but, when in Rome...)
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David said 5:55PM on 7-11-2006
They are complying with the law, that area stores must continue the Art Deco design. I think they did well considering.
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elliot Hosch said 5:56PM on 7-11-2006
its a store, get over it!
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Thomas said 5:58PM on 7-11-2006
It looks like it needs painting.
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Nick Sayes said 6:00PM on 7-11-2006
Art Deco is an immitation architecture. Its a thing of the past.
Art Deco was where un-informed people attempted to copy the "red and white striped" buildings of desireable hollywood houses as seen on TV during the modern era. In the informed world, modernism passed years ago. Why do people cling to this fake and cheap looking style. People need to move on.
As for corrugated metal. It can look very cool and contemporary. See http://www.paramodern.com/. Though it only makes Art Deco look "cheaper".
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Phil said 6:00PM on 7-11-2006
I like it. It's different. The thing is, sooner or later, everyone's gonna get tired of the same design elements being used over and over again, no matter how good they are.
I do web hosting with a company called Itsamac and on their FAQ page they have the question: "Why doesn't your page have the nice, sleek aluminum look that other apple pages do?"
Their answer: "We thought the motto was 'Think different,' not 'Think like Steve.' " I couldn't agree more...
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PorradaVFR said 6:03PM on 7-11-2006
Two comments...
1. The store (and Lincoln Mall) are on Miami Beach, not Miami. Different cities, technically and architecturally.
2. The Art Decoesque design should fit in perfectly with the rest of the mall. I used to spend a lot of time there and soft pastels and curvy edges were pretty much prevasive between Ocean and Bay Avenues from South Pointe to North Beach.
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cacho said 6:07PM on 7-11-2006
Holly crap! How can they dare to risking people into confusing a classy Apple Store with a shanty town! If I run into a store like that I will run for my life, thinking that poor, dirty, ugly, but fundamentally poor people will be living inside, eating those things that poor people eat.
Thanks for iluminating us daily!
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edward said 6:15PM on 7-11-2006
well, it's hard to put Apple image everywhere. one of examples were not happened into reality in portland, OR. so Apple should look for another place. why? the historic district turned two proposes from Apple. so apple moved on.
in the same way, miami art deco district, expending to this mall is much more important than oregon. it's one of previous american historic place where law is very restricted to build any kind of architecture there. no matter who they are, they must preserve the shape of image. otherwise, you can't do business in there. Apple should follow the same way. they must obey this law to run their business in historic environment.
everything is changed, moved faster. but sometimes we respect our treasure, environment which we can only identify as americans. otherwise you have no one to show. short nation history needs more appreciation on this matter. just look at countries have old history over there.
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geekmorgan said 6:18PM on 7-11-2006
Wasn't the apple store in soho already built? they just moved in.. didn't build it themselves.
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Radu Dutzan said 6:31PM on 7-11-2006
Whatever. It's still ugly. Beige ugly.
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