Apple is set to open its much anticipated new Chicago location at 5 p.m. on Friday, the first in a new generation of Apple’s most “significant” locations.
“Apple Michigan Avenue is about removing boundaries between inside and outside, reviving important urban connections within the city,” Jony Ive, Apple’s chief design officer, said in a statement. “It unites a historic city plaza that had been cut off from the water, giving Chicago a dynamic new arena that flows effortlessly down to the river.”
The roof, made of 111-by-98 foot carbon fiber, was designed to be as “thin as possible.”
With 32-foot tall glass facades.
Apple says its had worked closely with the city of Chicago in order to design the riverfront location.
In line with its goal of creating an unobtrusive piece of architecture, the inside of the store itself, where the sales take place, is also largely hidden from both the street, and the river.
“When Apple opened on North Michigan Avenue in 2003, it was our first flagship store, and now we are back in Chicago opening the first in a new generation of Apple’s most significant worldwide retail locations,” Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s senior vice president of retail, said in a statement.
The opening comes as Apple is expected to release its iPhone X on Oct. 27.