Up above is an Apple patent drawing from 2002, showing the Apple Store glass staircases many of us know. The staircase sides are made from separate panes of glass.

This past Saturday your correspondent attended the re-opening of Apple's SoHo, NYC flagship store. The newly-remodeled space is a heckuva lot bigger than it used to be, but what is bound to catch any architect/designer's eye is the staircase. At first blush it seems the same as before, but look closer and you'll see that this...

...on the sides, looks like this:

It's insane; the sides are made from a zigzagging yet continuous, seam-free piece of glass that looks to exceed 30 feet at its longest point.

I couldn't get a good photograph of it as the store was packed, but I cannot stress how beautiful the thing is in person. And if you're wondering how it's strong enough, get up close and you see that each stringer is made from five sheets laminated together:

I guess I oughtn't be surprised based on Apple's updated 5th Avenue Cube with the 32-foot panes, but it was still a nicely stunning thing to see inside the new store.