The appearance of shopping malls in the United States reshaped the country. An efficient model/typology was developed quickly, following the model of interior streets. The atmosphere was spacious, air conditioned and filled with light giving the sense of walking in a general city’s downtown. Not only did they reshape how Americans consume and socialize, they also reshaped cities and their relation with suburbs. Often in the outskirts of cities, shopping malls also transformed how Americans use transportation, enhancing and encouraging the use of cars.
In the mid nineteenth century, Paris underwent a monumental urban reform. Haussmann reshaped the city for the sake of modernity and revolutionized how the city functions in terms of circulation but more so socially and economically. Based on the model of the Haussmanization of Paris, shopping malls holds the notion of “to see and be seen”. However, instead of an outdoor public setting, it is enclosed in an artificial and materialistic environment. In order to function, both had to center around the capitalist value of consumption, however in the United States, it was mostly detached from the city center changing the system of cities and the urban envelop.
Originally designed by Austrian architect Victor Gruen in Edina Minnesota, the shopping mall was meant to be an efficient design with the aim to reduce sprawling but it has done the opposite.
From its appearance in the 1950s to the late 90s, shopping malls were booming and became a central element to people’s lifestyles. However, ever since the mid 2000s it has been on the decline. It is estimated that a fourth of shopping malls in the United States will be out of business by 2022. What happened to the effective model of shopping malls? What successful elements went missing? Why and how is such a recent, successful typology already declining so rapidly?
I hope to study the phenomenon of shopping malls and its urban system as well as cultural. What makes the current ones successful? What are the different components to the system at an urban scale and its impact on the city and communities? What were the architectural consequences and what possibilities are available now?
I will be using works by Andres Lepik and Vera Simone Bader from World of Malls, and Chris van Uffelen. Furthermore, I will use essays of Robert Venturi, Leon van Schaik and more to strengthen my arguments.
Santiago 