New Barcelona Apple Store Has Unique "Coming Soon" Billboard

Monday July 16, 2012 5:59 PM PDT by Jordan Golson
The Apple Store Passeig de Gracia is opening soon in Barcelona, Spain. However, instead of the traditional black plywood walls that are generally put in front of store locations under construction, Apple has elected to be a bit more vibrant:

NewImage
In a style honoring Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, Apple has made a Trencadís mosaic with a brilliant multi-colored Apple logo and a number of other fanciful designs that appear to be inspired by iOS app icons.

VilaWeb, a Catalan news site, has more:
Apple will open in a few days the new Apple Store in downtown Barcelona. Will be the second biggest one in Europe and a surprising logo has been discovered today featuring an Antoni Gaudí Style -the iconic Barcelona architect, master of the Sagrada Familia.

[…]

The new store is located on Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona, near Casa Batlló and Casa Milà, two famous buildings by the architect.
iPordelante has a number of other photos from the store.

51 comments


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Carlanga
86 months ago
The link is great

This is an actual tile mosaic, not printed!

The colors used in the whole billboard are colors of the apple apps used in iOS. For example the blue color is actually a bunch of Safari icon tiles broken and put randomly in sequence and so on :cool:

Rating: 12 Votes
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Drunken Master
86 months ago
Wow, clicking through is worth it, some awesome stuff.

And if you're wondering, the sign is in Catalan, not Spanish (Castellano).
Rating: 12 Votes
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Queso
86 months ago

How can you sell a premium brand in a country that's broke,
with 25% unemployment and a 40% unemployment for young people? :confused:

75% of the workforce and 60% of young people are in work, that's how.
Rating: 5 Votes
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iMikeT
86 months ago
This is awesome. It would be even better if Apple did more localization in the future. How about one with palm trees and a beach for us here in California?
Rating: 3 Votes
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Trauma1
86 months ago
Reminds me of the orange coverings for the Amsterdam store.
Rating: 3 Votes
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jlgolson
86 months ago

:) That explains why I couldn't translate it! I speak Spanish, but not Catalan...Is that the norm in Barcelona? I would have thought they would use Spanish as the primary language or is it just an Apple being "Different" again..:D

Without getting too much into it, the Catalan are an ethnic group in northern Spain -- some support Catalan independence from Spain and there is a distinct identity different from that of the Spanish. It's not unlike the Quebeçois versus the Canadians.

They have a different language and would consider a sign by Apple in Spanish to be insulting. Apple has long had signs in its Barcelona stores in Catalan.
Rating: 3 Votes
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spillproof
86 months ago
Wow, great work. It looks great against the building. Apple really cares about their stores and the surrounding area.

The all black walls look really ugly now.
Rating: 2 Votes
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Ugg
86 months ago
That's brilliant! It's great to see Apple pay homage to Gaudi and as Trauma1 says, the orange on the Amsterdam store was a tribute to The Netherlands. It's great that they see each store and country individually.
Rating: 2 Votes
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Adidas Addict
86 months ago

How can you sell a premium brand in a country that's broke,


They seem to be doing OK in the good 'ol USA.
Rating: 2 Votes
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Mad-B-One
86 months ago

Yes, but there are better ways to honor artists, for example paying them.

So why doesn't Apple use a local, well-know Barcelona artist to design their logo?

Or why don't they honor Gaudi by making a donation to restore one of his works?

I really do see this stuff as just a cheap rip off. Like putting a cover band to play a popular song in a tv ad.


I guess they collect VAT and pay it to the city. That's a start. But, yea: The "Sagrada Familia" still needs a lot of donations to be built according to Gaudi's plans.
Rating: 1 Votes
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