American Shopping Malls - Now & Then - From the Abandoned to Thriving
The father of the American shopping mall, the Austrian-born architect Victor Gruen, envisioned the mall as a sort of European-style town center for the American suburbs. He saw malls as climate-controlled Main Streets, with post offices, supermarkets, and cafes, set amidst larger complexes with schools, parks, medical centers, and residences. You’d hardly need to drive at all. Gruen found cars repulsive. But only part of Gruen’s vision caught on: the climate-controlled gray box, famous for encouraging car culture rather than stopping it. In 1978, the elderly Gruen railed against what his idea had become. “I would like to take this opportunity to disclaim paternity once and for all,” he said. “I refuse to pay alimony to those bastard developments. They destroyed our cities.” - Smithsonian Magazine Read More: www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/transformation-american-shopping-mall-180964837/?utm_content=Derelict-Doug&utm_medium=Derelict-Doug Keep Up-To-Date: derelictdoug.net Follow Me On Twitter: twitter.com/Derlict_doug
