Apple Via del Corso opens in Rome on May 27 at 10 a.m. With magnificent architecture and a space designed to gather and learn, Apple is celebrating the creativity of one of the world’s most historic cities.
Are you attending the grand opening of Apple Via del Corso? I’d love to share your photos. In the interest of health and safety, opening day visits will be limited and available by appointment. Book a time to visit.
Apple Via del Corso reinvents Palazzo Marignoli, a 19th-century block on Rome’s famous shopping street. Learn more about the store’s location here.
To transform Palazzo Marignoli into the first Apple Store in the center of Rome, Apple worked with architects Foster + Partners to restore the palace and preserve its historical integrity. Original details were repaired and new materials introduced with sensitivity to the building’s Italianate architecture.
Two floors of reimagined spaces blending new and old await customers, spanned by a grand staircase that invites exploration. The store borders a sunny courtyard lined with Camphora trees and sits adjacent to Piazza San Silvestro, a reactivated public square where the city can gather.
1. Forum
2. The Store
3. Restored Artwork
Apple:
Originally constructed in 1873 by renowned architect Salvatore Bianchi and a second renovation by architect Giulio Podesti, Palazzo Marignoli was the home of Marquis Filippo Marignoli and housed Caffè Aragno, one of Rome’s most notable gathering places in its day frequented by artists, writers, and actors. Several pieces of art showcased in Caffè Aragno have been carefully restored and thoughtfully incorporated within the new store design, including multiple graffiti panels created by Italian painter Afro Basaldella in 1950. The teams were also able to revive and integrate Fabio Cipolla’s “Dawn” and Ettore Ballerini’s “Dusk,” two large ceiling paintings that date back to the early 1900s.
4. Arcade
5. Grand Staircase
Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail + People:
We can’t wait to begin a new chapter in Rome with the opening of Apple Via del Corso. The new store represents a celebration of the unique history and art of Roman culture, and we hope to inspire creativity among the local community with our Made in Rome program and future Today at Apple sessions.
To enter the store, visitors pass through a theatric vaulted colonnade lined with sculpted plaster coffers. The ground level offers two zones with products to explore along a central arcade and floor to ceiling windows connecting the streets of Rome.
Ascending the grand staircase, customers will find a series of traditional palazzo rooms reimagined with contemporary purpose. A Forum and Video Wall in the ballroom of the upper level overlook Via del Corso, where Apple will offer artist-led Today at Apple sessions for the first time in the heart of Rome. The Made in Rome program will be led by over 40 local artists across the fields of music, art and design, content creation, and video, aimed at supporting local communities across the city. Sessions will harness the unique history and artistic legacy of Rome to unlock creativity.
Bordering the Forum are quieter rooms for training and Genius Bar support. The upper level also houses the Boardroom, where Apple will invite developers, business clients, and creative guests.
If you visit Apple Via del Corso, mark the day with a custom Apple Watch face. Follow along on Twitter for daily Apple Store news.
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