Apple wants to transform DC's historic Carnegie Library

Published May 8, 2017

Share

Washington - Steve Jobs minted Apple as a top American

retailer by designing crisp, modern stores with features reminiscent of the

company's products. Glass boxes and aluminium panels abounded.

But as Apple moves to turn its stores into experiences places

for concerts, art exhibitions and photography classes, the tech giant has begun

to pursue distinctive yet familiar buildings that its customers might admire as

well.

In Washington, DC, Apple has set its sights squarely on the

Carnegie Library in Mount Vernon Square. One of thousands of libraries built

nationwide with funds donated by the steel tycoon and philanthropist Andrew

Carnegie, it opened in 1903 as the first desegregated public building in the

city.

There, Apple officials say they plan to restore the building

to its original grandeur and outfit Carnegie as a place to hold a slate of free

concerts, art exhibitions, and workshops for teachers and coding classes for children.

Trial programs at other Apple stores have included

presentations from community artists and photographers, as well as concerts and

talks from bigger names - the hip-hop producer RZA led an "Art of

Beatmaking" session at Apple's Brooklyn store last fall. The company plans

to release a fuller schedule of events around the country this month.

The ultimate goal, of course, is to sell more iPhones and

iPads. Where the Carnegie Library once housed the city's book collection, Apple

plans a "Genius Grove," a tree-lined sales floor where company

representatives will show customers how to maximize Apple products for music,

photography or other passions. What long ago were reading rooms would become places to

browse and sample Apple products?

"This is a way of creating a reason to come to the

store, to touch and feel our products, but also to have an engaging experience

with someone who is passionate about the same thing," said B.J. Siegel,

who is the senior design director for Apple's retail division.

Finding historic buildings with stories rooted in their

communities are part and parcel to the experience Apple is trying to create,

Siegel said. The company in recent years has opened stores in a former

restaurant bay in New York's Grand Central Terminal, a Depression-era brick

storefront in Brooklyn, and in a 130-year-old former bank in Paris.

Rather than plastering the buildings with the company's

logo, Apple's designers say they will focus on restoring the building's

historic character. It can take a little work to find the store's signage and

logo - which is the point.

"For us, it wasn't about coming in and leaving our

mark," Siegel said. "It was about bringing the history back out and

respecting it."

"We've discovered that big, garish logos on historic

buildings don't work very well, so often we try to find more subtle ways to

brand the building," he added.

That couldn't be further from the failed strategy of the

previous pursuit of the Carnegie Building. The International Spy Museum

proposed moving into the Carnegie Building more than three years ago, but it

sought to double the size of the 63,000-square-foot building by building two

expansive, glass-encased wings. The District's Historic Preservation Review

Board turned the proposal away.

Apple does plan to install a skylight in the Carnegie

Building's roof above a central events area, and there are bound to be

questions about handing one of the city's more cherished buildings to a

corporation.

But there is wide agreement among DC officials that the

Carnegie Building could be better used. Despite its visible location south of

the Walter E. Washington Convention Centre, it serves mainly as an office space

for the Historical Society of Washington DC and as a venue for the occasional

wedding or reception organized by Events DC, which manages the building.

undefined

When Apple signed a letter of intent in December to lease

the building, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, D, issued a statement saying that an Apple

store there "could link DC's rich history to our continued economic

renaissance, will demonstrate the strength of our retail market, and will tell

companies across the globe that the District is open for business."

Even the Historical Society isn't going anywhere; Siegel

said that Apple considered it a benefit to have such a unique community

institution as a neighbour and that the organization would maintain offices on

the second floor.

Read also:  SA school libraries in crisis

Gregory O'Dell, president and chief executive of Events DC,

said he was "working to support Apple with its plans as well as our

partners in the Historical Society of Washington, DC"  Apple is scheduled to present its plans to

the area's Advisory Neighbourhood Commission on Monday evening.

In New York, Apple picked up a historic preservation award

for its work restoring the sort of buildings that, in Jobs's era, it would not

have considered.

Angela Ahrendts, Apple's current senior vice president for

retail, considers it essential to the company's future that it be more than a

place to buy things.

"Starbucks figured it out, for being a gathering place,

right?’Meet me at Starbucks,' " Ahrendts told CBS in a recent interview. "I've

told my teams, I'll know we've done a great job if the next generation, of Gen

Z, says, 'Meet me at Apple.' "

 WASHINGTON POST

Related Topics: