Apple's Milan store has a water feature that is hard to match: Built underground, the store sits behind a cascading fountain enclosed in glass.
The Apple Piazza Liberty store, just off the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, a popular pedestrian street in Milan, offers visitors the dramatic glass fountain as both a store entrance and the backdrop to an outdoor amphitheater. The piazza, made from the beola grigia stone that is prevalent throughout Milan, is open to the public 24 hours a day and will house year-round special events.
“There’s no better expression of our vision for Apple stores serving as modern-day gathering places than Apple Piazza Liberty,” said Angela Ahrendts, senior vice president of retail, in a press release. “In a city with such rich history of art, entertainment and creativity, it's an honor to establish a space where anyone can be inspired to learn, create and connect with their neighbors.”
Jonathan Ive, Apple’s chief design officer, concurs. "To work within one of Italy’s historic piazzas is both a great responsibility and wonderful challenge,” Ive said. “We combined two fundamental elements of the Italian piazza — water and stone — adding a glass portal that creates a multisensory experience as visitors enter the store through a cascading fountain that seems to envelop them.”
By Brannon Boswell
Executive Editor, Commerce + Communities Today
