Apple is finally unveiling its seamless glass cube entrance to the Fifth Avenue store on Friday, according to MacRumors. Apple’s Fifth Avenue retail store is one of the most recognized Apple stores in the world and a main tourist attraction in New York City. The renovation project is estimated to have cost $6, 6 million, and has been surrounded by barriers since June. Steve Jobs himself reportedly provided a great deal of input into the design of the 5th Avenue store, according to the Wall Street Journal. The developer contracted by Apple to carry out the remodeling said that Jobs was solely responsible for the cube. He had different shapes and different ideas in mind, and the cube was somehow different than what it is now, but its Steve Jobs idea nevertheless.

The amount of glass panels have been reduced from 90 to only 15. The fine details of the cube’s design have also been improved, and the surrounding architecture, including the water drain system, have been simplified. The deconstruction and reconstruction of the cube will cost as much as the original construction, which quickly became a signature landmark of the city and was later partially replicated in Shanghai China with a cylindrical glass artifice that utilized large panes of curved glass. The exact reason for the renovation of the NYC cube has never been entirely clear, but the new panes are exceedingly large and estimated to be about two inches thick.

A MacRumors reader reports “that today they’ve torn away much of the white covering along the bottom of the store. This area remains hidden from the street level view due to the surrounding construction barriers,” Kim reports. “Workers have been power-washing the ground, presumably in preparation for the grand unveiling.”.

Source: Appleinsider