Building Dreams Brick by Brick: The Unofficial LEGO APPLE Store That Captivates Fans

In a world where creativity flows, where mashups and innovation are commonplace, and where brands and characters that were once reserved for kids become the focus of adults who play just as hard – if not harder – why has there never been an Apple-themed LEGO set? Sadly, LEGO has never approved one. Sure, there are innovative builders out there who use LEGO to create awesome versions of the Apple store in their LEGO city. And for the diehards, it will always be a great big LEGO store at heart. Yet, where is the official, licensed LEGO version of the Apple store? I believe it is coming – and soon. How can I possibly believe that? It all started when I first heard about David ‘DCD’ Corbett, a LEGO fan dedicated to the creation of unofficial LEGO models. The product he is working on now is a retail store loosely inspired by Apple.

The Birth of a Brick Dream

In the LEGO fan community, the race to replicate the look and feel of the Apple Store in LEGO has taken a giant step forward. A collaboration between LEGO user @legotruman and @2A2A has produced this gleaming Apple Store out of LEGO that shines with nearly as much obsessive detail and the familiar aesthetic of the look and feel of Apple’s retail stores. The build came to LEGO via the LEGO Ideas crowdsourced incubator where designs typically selected for production as official LEGO sets are submitted and vetted and voted upon.

Crafting the Unofficial LEGO APPLE Store

It is its own store. Because the designers of the LEGO Apple Store were not beholden to faithfully reproducing any one Apple Store, their product is something new: an architectural distillation. The entirety of Apple’s architectural ambitions are crystallised into a building that honours not a particular building, but the many buildings that share elements in common. The tall glass façades, glowing Apple logo, and simple minimalist aesthetic are all present in the set.

Interior Elegance in Miniature

As we step over the LEGO set’s black-bordered door frames, we find ourselves in a spotless and layout-correct replica of an Apple Store – complete with friendly minifigure employees in blue t-shirts waiting to help customers explore the product displays, which are filled to the brim with virtually perfect recreations of the latest iPhones, iMacs and MacBooks, already plugged in for the customers to check out, juxtaposed with perfectly arranged white product boxes and headphones.

A Homage to Iconic Details

The set continues with indoor Ficus in white pots, another familiar design detail from the real Apple Store, as well as largescale trees placed in the surrounding outdoor areas. The stairs at the rear, which bridge the indoor and outdoor sections of space, lead to an upstairs area featuring a rainbow spectrum of colourful Apple Watch displays, additional staff members at the ready and a colour gradient screen on a living green wall. Every detail is something that could be found in an actual Apple Store and clearly thought through by the creators.

A Dream Waiting for Approval

Even though the LEGO Apple Store is a gorgeous, well-conceived tribute to the form and function of Apple’s retail stores, and even though the designer, Sam Kliger, has submitted it to the LEGO Cuusoo community as an official LEGO set that, should it reach 10,000 voter submissions, LEGO will review for the potential of creating an actual LEGO product, it’s not a done deal just because the LEGO Cuusoo team is recommending it. Even Apple could have a say in the final decision. As of this writing, the project has accrued nearly 1,500 votes, and is about halfway towards the 10,000 votes necessary to reach the review stage – a testament to the fan support of the project.

Would You Build Your Own APPLE Store?

The LEGO-isation of the Apple Store puts on the table the kind of opportunity that an Apple-loving, LEGO-loving individual might only dream of: assembling something from the bottom up, piece by piece, then putting it on your shelf. This set might just be a pretty shelf toy; and maybe more than that: an inspirational shelf toy, with the Apple-LEGO logo proudly telling the world that creativity, forward thinking, and brand-extension can make two great brands even greater.

About APPLE

Apple Inc is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software and online services. Its best-known hardware products are the iPhone smartphone, the iPad tablet computer, and the Mac personal computer, along with the iPod portable media player. Apple’s consumer software includes the OS X and iOS operating systems, the iTunes media browser, the Safari web browser, and the iLife and iWork creativity and productivity suites. Its online services include the iTunes Store, the iOS App Store and iBookstore, Mac App Store, and the App Store for iOS individuals and enterprises, all of which integrate clean design elements and a focus on user experience. With its Apple Stores, Apple has brought the company’s material products and online vision to a physical and interactive retail setting, as well as to people’s daily lives. Known simply as ‘Apple’, the company has helped us to reimagine technology and has pushed the boundaries of design and functionality. It has become an iconic brand that resonates in everyday culture and continues to inspire a global audience. In the past the, the company was widely known as ‘Apple Computer, Inc’ or just ‘Apple computer’.

This unofficial LEGO Apple Store project celebrates the creativity of LEGO with the aesthetics of Apple, which is a great example of the kind of creativity fans love in both companies. Only time will tell if this fan-built creation will make the jump from fan idea to official LEGO set. But either way, it’s a gorgeous fan-built tribute to the Apple Store, sure to be enjoyed by LEGO and Apple fans alike, and that special day when it joins the shelves of anyone who decides to own it.