After we reported previously in Steve Jobs’ “One Last Thing” – Apple Unveils New $6 Million Dollar Fifth Avenue Store Cube, “As a testament to being a perfectionist, Jobs tweaked their Apple flagship to be sleeker, simpler and less complicated. With the extra hardware on the glass removed, in addition to eliminating the small bollards that had previously surrounded the cube on the plaza, the new Fifth Avenue Store levitates in simple elegance. And the process to be “simpler” only cost Apple $6 million.”
Apple is applying this “simple elegance” concept to more Apple Stores. Coming soon, a nearly transparent store in France.
“One of the most unusual and amazing architectural designs for an Apple store will reportedly appear in Aix en Provence (France), featuring a nearly all-glass structure enabled by new technology developed by Apple’s glass suppliers,” Gary Allen reports for ifoAppleStore.
“According to AixEnProvence.fr magazine, the current tired-looking tourism office on the south side of Place du General de Gaulle will be demolished and the Apple store will be constructed at the site,” Allen reports. “A rendering posted by the magazine shows a one-level structure set back on a broad stone plaza, with a tan-colored rear wall, and all other encompassing walls made of glass.”
Allen adds, “The city is in the south of France, and is favored by good weather and thousands of tourists each year. The area to the west of the future store has been recently reconstructed with many upscale shops from international retailers. According to the magazine the store could open by late 2012 or early 2013.”
