Stefan Al details how the urban mall is having profound consequences on our conceptions of the city and public space.
“Oculus was Westfield’s $1.4bn bet that New York, a city known for its love of the street, could also have a successful mall. And judging from the crowds, it counters the narrative that the mall is “dead”, like those thousands of empty suburban malls dotting the American landscape, “ghostboxes” decaying on cracked asphalt parking lots.”
“In fact, a new breed of shopping centre is integrating so seamlessly into its urban surroundings that it can be difficult to draw any line between city and mall whatsoever. London’s Boxpark, Las Vegas’s Downtown Container Park and Miami’s Brickell City Centre are examples of mall-like environments that try to weave into the street life of a city.”
Read more ↓
All under one roof: how malls and cities are becoming indistinguishable, The Guardian
Further reading ↓
Mall City: Hong Kong’s Dreamworlds of Consumption, Stefan Al
The Strip: Las Vegas and the Architecture of the American Dream, Stefan Al