The Architecture of the Apple...

The Big Apple has a new signifier, residing at 767 Fifth Avenue in the GM Plaza.  The Apple logo floats in The (glass) Cube of the new Apple Store with the Plaza Hotel, undergoing renovation and conversion to partial condo space, in the background. 

A glass elevator and circular stairway lead to (heaven?) the 25,000 sq. ft. subterranean retail space.  Just as I.M. Pei's glass pyramids defined the Louvre (Slate's Magnum photos of the Louvre) as the cultural centre of Paris, this glass box redefines the cultural space of the city that never sleeps and gives new meaning to the Big Apple.

Click to enlarge the photo, right, showing the 32x32x32 glass cube as it sits on the G.M.Plaza, with fountains to the north and south.  With an AIDS walk drawing people to Central Park and a Veteran's Day Parade up Fifth Avenue, the wait line was very short for entry to the new store Sunday afternoon.

The history of the new store can be read here. 

Architect is Dan Shannon of Moed de Armas & Shannon of NYC.  MotherPie's earlier article on the Apple Store here.

London has The Eye that gives one a perspective of the city. Paris went beyond the Eiffel Tower to have a pyramid define the apex of the cultural inheritance of the classical city.  Now New York City has a new post-modern glass structural marker to define the cultural apex of the 24/365 city.  A commercial box.

MotherPie on The Apple as a brand, here.

Additional Apple Store opening information: Time-lapse photography of the opening here, the apple cube before unpeeling and other photos at the Gothamist here, and Secret Weapon Labs video of Jobs' interview on CNBC plus a good history with photos of the design of the space in progress and a good photograph of the I.M. Pei's Louvre pyramid here. Apple history here.

New York City, the Big Apple, has been redefined. Take a bite of The (new big) Apple, architecturally speaking. 

MotherPie's 29 architectural photos of The (Apple) Cube opening weekend here at Flickr.

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