#APPLE STORE PORTLAND MAC#

Particularly with the roof hanging over, it feels as if the building is not a building at all but just a roof suspended from the concrete wall of the adjacent building. The Apple store glass brings that phrase - curtain wall - more resonantly to mind.

#APPLE STORE PORTLAND MAC#

I'd never in my life, whether on travels in Europe and Asia or here in the United States, ever experienced such wide-open volumes and transparency as one gets in the Coliseum, where a 12,000-seat arena stands on just four columns, and one can enjoy (on those rare occasions when the curtain is open) a 360-degree view to the outside, including the entire downtown Portland skyline.Īt the Apple store, one doesn't have the same panoramic view, but the glass curtain wall is rendered so crisply and without clutter that it's easy to stand at one of the wood tables, gazing at a Mac or an iPad on display, and wonder why there is a roof but no walls. It touches upon and mines the most basic human biophilic needs of what's called prospect and refuge: to see out and get a sense of the exterior even as one feels shelter and protection from the elements.Ī love of volume and transparency is why I got involved five years ago with trying to save another glass box: Memorial Coliseum. When you're inside a pristine glass box, it feels like being inside and outside at once. Much as I adore all kinds of historic styles, from the symmetry and proportion of classical architecture to the humble welcoming quality of a Craftsman bungalow, there is nothing I find more compelling than modern architecture when it has a generous amount of volume and transparency. In fact, as I stood inside the store on a visit last week, I was reminded of one of the guiding truths about my own love of architecture. The flooring inside and out is identical, and one’s eye almost forgets the glass is there. The surrounding plaza also feels like an extension of the interior space. The main glass-enclosed space is quite tall-it feels like a story and a half at least-giving a sense of volume inside even when the store is packed with customers and blue-shirted Apple employees. There is also a large roof overhang that appears to float over the glass box. It's basically a big glass box, set back from the street and raised a few feet up so as to include a small concrete plaza. The design of the new Apple store, by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, is very simple, and that's what makes it powerful. The old building was new enough to have been of use for many decades more, but it was basically a banal two-story concrete box with a cornice and some storefront windows. But if there has to be such waste, at least we're getting more attractive architecture in its place. The company tore down an existing two-story building on this site, which had been occupied by luxury retailer Saks and was less than 15 years old. The new Apple store, located downtown at SW Yamill and Fourth (across from its old location in Pioneer Place), has a striking presence, albeit one created after an unsettling and unsustainable precursor. Despite the refined palette of natural wood and white walls, it could sometimes feel a bit claustraphobic there with large crowds cramped into a small, windowless space.įor a new Portland flagship store, Apple initially planned a store in Northwest Portland on 23rd Avenue in the mid-2000s before abandoning the proposed development after disagreements with the city's Historic Landmarks Commission over its design.īut now, however, the juggernaut from Cupertino has a home big enough to accommodate its hordes of shoppers, as well as a far more prominent presence on the street and, more broadly, an architectural setting that befits its beautifully designed devices. For the past several years, Apple's flagship Portland store has been located in the lower depths of downtown's Pioneer Place mall.

Apple store portland