The Apple Museum Poland at the Norblin Factory

1,500 exhibits related to the development and evolution of Apple products—the most recognizable technology brand in the world—will appear in the creative and interactive Apple Museum Poland in the revitalized Norblin Factory complex. The area of 320 sq.m. will hold the most complete and the largest collection in the world presenting computers, laptops, accessories, telephones, software, peripherals, multimedia carriers with unique Apple materials, posters and commemorative gadgets. The exhibition is set to open this fall.

Until now, the museum operated in a temporary seat in Piaseczno. However, due to the scale of the collection, its owner was looking for a new location to host an exhibition that would guide visitors through the timeline, presenting all Apple products and stages of development in a chronological order.

– The choice of our new location was not accidental. The Norblin Factory appears to be the most electrifying lifestyle center in this part of Europe. It is a place with magical cultural and social potential. A place where the spirit of the extraordinary history of Polish industry hovers, enclosed in a unique modernist-classicist architecture. The Norblin Factory is the quintessence of the mix of tomorrow resulting from yesterday. It is exactly like the Apple brand – says Jacek Łupina, owner of the Apple Museum Poland. We decided to work with Capital Park because the unique approach of the company’s entire team allows us to believe that we are dealing with an organization where understanding, sensitivity to the tenant’s needs and the ability to see potential in non-obvious contexts are important – he adds.

The Japko company is responsible for the production and commercialization of the exhibition.

- We decided, together with our business partners, that it is our duty to present these unique collections to the widest possible audience. We want the exhibition to fit in with contemporary exhibition models. We would like it to show the development of ideas in technology in a way that everyone can see what progress we have experienced as humanity. We also want to show the sources and directions of civilization, but most of all, we wish to show visitors the true nucleus of technological pop culture. We will create a multimedia space in a way allowing people to experience this exhibition, not just to see it – says Krzysztof Grochowski, President of the Management Board of Japko sp. z o.o.

The exhibits and the interactive narrative built around them will encourage the exhibition’s visitor to interact, but at the same time they will wait for his or her movement. Thanks to a network of sensors, the exhibition will suggest new objects of interest to visitors. The transfer of information with the use of audiovisual communication techniques, graphic codes, modern design and, above all, interactions will make the viewer more and more willing to delve into subsequent scenes and space-times built around the Apple brand collections. Each of the devices will be shown in an unusual way, in a created, condensed audiovisual space. The use of scenography, lights, animation, sound, mapping and infographics will give the viewer the opportunity to interact with the object in a unique environment, full of social and cultural contexts and easy-to-understand technical information. The exhibition’s real treasure is a working, faithful replica of the first Apple-1 computer, which was made by the owner of the museum with the help of sponsors and a group of volunteers. It has an authentic signature of Apple’s co-founder—Steve Wozniak—on the mother board and the manual. The replica will be the starting point for visitors’ journey through the museum. The exhibits also include models known for their interesting role in in the technological race and development. Visitors will also get to know devices notorious for failures and prototypes that have not been put into mass production. The vast majority of them are operational or are being restored, and visitors will be able to touch, test and experience them under the watchful eye of a curator.

– A real treat is being prepared for Apple brand enthusiasts and technology fans. The colorful apple has become the most recognizable symbol of pop culture, and the company’s revolutionary devices changed the broadly understood visual culture and design of electronic products forever. We are delighted that next to the Norblin Factory Museum, which will tell the history of this place and the plating industry thriving in the past, there will be another exhibition that will provide us with modern technological ideas in an accessible form, as well as the characteristic design and the entire philosophy for which Apple is known. The Apple Museum Poland will undoubtedly be a unique place and will enrich the cultural and entertainment offer of the Norblin Factory – says Kinga Nowakowska, member of the management board and operational director of Capital Park.

The revitalization of the Norblin Factory, located in the heart of Warsaw’s Wola district, is coming to an end and the Factory will be made available to visitors in September. It will offer 65,000 sq.m. of usable area, with offices taking up 41,000 sq.m. of A+ space, and with the remaining 24,000 sq.m. filled with entertainment, culture, food, service and retail concepts. The retail part of the Norblin Factory will include e.g. BioBazar (1,800 sq.m.) – the first market in Poland offering only organic products, a food hall with themed sections and 26 original restaurant concepts (3,200 sq.m.). There will also be restaurants and bars, such as Blue Cactus Restaurant&Bar, Soul Food and Piano Bar with live music. The office part of the complex will house also such tenants, as Allegro.pl (16,200 sq.m.), the Global Business Services Center Japan Tobacco International (8,500 sq.m.) and ISS World Service (4,000 sq.m.). The revitalized space will also become a cultural destination, owing to such concepts as KinoGram, boutique cinema with 7 screening rooms for 620 people in total (3,300 sq.m.), with the substantive support of the Directors Guild of Poland. The Norblin Factory will also host the first fully interactive and digital art gallery in Poland – ART BOX Experience, taking up nearly 800 sq.m.

Capital Park Group is the investor and initiator of revitalization of the Norblin Factory. PRC Architekci is responsible for the architectural design, Warbud SA is the general contractor, cooperating with such companies, as Soletanche Polska, Maat4 and TKT Engineering. Monument Service supervises all conservation works on monuments.