In 2001, Apple issued its Retail Store Manifesto, proclaiming its ambition to use retail to convince people that “Macintosh offers a much simpler, richer, and more human-centered computing experience” despite retail stores being unpopular among technology companies at the time. This vision has shaped Apple’s unique approach to retail, transforming its stores into environments beyond shopping. Since the inception of its first store, Apple has redefined the retail experience, emphasizing customer engagement and education and creating a community around its products. The stores “have become the embodiment of the Apple lifestyle.” This is done through products displayed on tables for easy access and mid-height furniture clusters in an open plan to foster interaction and visual orientation within the more prominent “Apple community.”
Since 2014, Apple’s collaboration with Foster + Partners has taken its retail design to new dimensions. Their collaboration started with the urban Apple Bagdat Caddesi in Istanbul, seeking to create “a green oasis in the heart of the city.” According to "Apple by Foster, Reinventing Patrimony," these stores feature hallmark design features, such as the glass staircase, the hidden joinery, and brushed metallic surfaces, intended to mirror the company’s product design. Over the past decade, “Apple stores have become iconic fixtures in trendy urban centers.” Whether it’s Foster + Partners’ adaptive reuse design in Rome’s Via del Corso, or the heritage-driven flagship in Regent Street, London, the transparent envelope in Apple Park, or their outwards-facing design overlooking urban life in Dubai, Foster + Partners’ collaboration with Apple has proved to be innovative in various ways.
