“The iconic Fifth Avenue Apple Store glass cube, which was designed in part by legendary company co-founder Steve Jobs, is now a patented ornamental building design sanctioned by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office,” Katie Marsal reports for AppleInsider.
“The patent was officially granted this week, and represents the latest design of the 32-foot cube, which uses fewer panes of glass to achieve a cleaner aesthetic,” Marsal reports. “The simpler look came as a result of a redesign that was completed in late 2011.”
“Previously, the cube used 90 panes of glass, but Apple sunk an estimated $6.7 million into the 15-pane redesign at its flagship New York City store,” Marsal reports. “The cube was personally designed by Jobs and is one of the most photographed landmarks in the city. The former CEO even paid for the project himself, and was the owner of the structure.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Apple unveiling redesigned Fifth Ave glass cube today at 10am Eastern – November 4, 2011
Computer illiterate’ architect behind Apple’s Fifth Avenue glass cube also did Bill Gates’ house – March 22, 2010
Apple starts online countdown to Apple Store Fifth Avenue ‘Glass Cube’ Grand Opening – May 11, 2006
Steve Jobs to eventually take his NYC big glass cube with him – December 2, 2005
Glass cube assembly begins at site of Apple’s 25,000-square-foot 5th Avenue flagship store – October 28, 2005
It’s a good pane.
I think its a pane in the glass. . .
I can hear the inflammatory Fandroid now kvetching about “squared corners.”
Steven’s idea to have this cube in the first place. He was principal designer for Next Cube and Power Mac G4 Cube.
I loved my NeXT Cube….that thing was fantastic in its day.
What parts of that building is in the 15 pane count?
The cube: 3 sheets of glass on each of 4 sides, plus 3 sheets that compose the “roof.” The doorway elements – which I think are just 3 more pieces of glass – are not in the count.
This structure is an amazing work of engineering combined with a radical use of materials. Interestingly, the glass comes from China and is the product of a very sophisticated process. I’ve been in the Shanghai Pudong Apple store many times – it is a cylindrical version of this structure. The curved glass tech from the Shanghai store will play a role in the glass panels for the new campus spaceship building.
That’s pretty impressive.. I thought the support structure glass was also included so imagined each side and roof were single panes but the count would not add up. Knowing glass will crystallize eventually, I wonder if they plan on replacing the panes or just removing the building altogether when the time comes.
It is supposed by some that glass will crystallise eventually, but that may prove a very long time, as an inspection of medieval cathedral windows will confirm.
Well, having experienced it happen literally in front of my eyes on two occasions makes me wonder.. Once the rear window of a car I was riding in crytallized (13 yr old car) and a large pane in one of my windows in a room I rented during college. It was like watching a seed crystal dropping into a super saturated solution. The cracks were very beautiful.. Windows were still there but I wouldn’t trust them to take any soft of light impact.
Pure class.
And pure glass!
Amazing that Jobs paid for it himself, that was a man who wanted to leave a legacy (and didn’t soak his stockholders to do so). Can anyone image any other Tech CEO doing something similar?
The first one that comes to mind would the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.. Still giving after all these years to many projects.
and where did Bill get his money?
Judge Jackson who presided in the USA vs Microsoft antitrust trial:
“Microsoft executives proved, time and time again, to be inaccurate, misleading, evasive, and transparently false. … Microsoft is a company with an institutional disdain for both the truth and for rules of law that lesser entities must respect. It is also a company whose senior management is not averse to offering specious testimony to support spurious defenses to claims of its wrongdoing”
—–
look i’m glad Bill is trying to do some good but lets not forget how he made his money.