How the Apple Store in Chicago became a dangerous place this winter

Ominous, high-hanging icicles have turned Apple's sleek, MacBook-inspired waterfront store in Chicago into a potentially perilous environment. 

Apple has cordoned off, with caution tape and signage, vulnerable areas where the sharp ice could fall. Chicago blogger Matt Maldre first spotted the architectural mishap, brought on by this winter's severe Arctic blast.

The architectural company Foster + Partners designed the carbon fiber roof to mimic a flat MacBook Pro laptop. They even emblazoned an Apple logo atop the roof — just like on the actual devices.

The building might be a design marvel — with pure glass walls and svelte steel columns — but it apparently lacks much winter utility, notably for a place specifically designed for public gathering, conducive to a social, urbanite atmosphere.

At the Apple event in September, Apple's senior vice president of retail, Angela Ahrendts, said forthcoming Apple Stores would be "town square" spaces.

But perhaps not in winter. There are no gutters to catch falling snow or ice. Nor is the roof sloping, so icicles that do form aren't dangling from 20 some feet overhead.

Indeed, it's common for icicles to form on buildings in Chicago, especially during these freeze events; so the Apple store isn't uniquely forming sharp icicles. But come winter, this particular "town square" can become a precarious place.