07 October 2006
Shopping Malls
Shopping malls seem to be the modern equivalent of the Roman Forum. Its the place you go when you just want to go somewhere.
Consider this: Who designs these things? Are there any rules of thumb that may be applied to their design? What makes a "good mall" vs a "bad mall"? I have been wondering these things for some time. One day when I grow up I will write a book on the topic I think.
We can divide malls into two broad categories. The "Strip Mall" and the "Shopping Mall". I don't care about strip malls. They are all cookie cutter type things and fundamentally inspiring. Their function is to serve shop fronts to consumers. You go there if they have a shop you know about and need to visit.
The shopping mall on the other hand I would define as a place that offers an experience. Its a place with ambiance. It does a lot of the same things as a casino. It is built to make you feel good and spend spend spend.
One thing I have found is that the design of malls have changed significantly over the last couple of decades. You can spot an 80s mall over an 90s mall.
An 80s mall tends to be low ceilinged with all artificial lighting. It is designed to make you feel "inside". It also has the 80s tendency to make things square. I don't think the concept of a promotion space existed then.
A 90s mall brings in more natural lighting and brings in plants (plastic or otherwise). The promotion space came into being.
Modern malls seem to be about having different regions. Some of them themed. Some of them "inside". Some of them "outside".
Lastly there is the evolution of the mall. When a mall gets extended, the architects had better know what they are doing. It seems to be very rare that an extended mall keeps on working as it was supposed to. I think I will put up some examples at a later stage. For now, note that Menlyn Mall turned into a monster. Cresta Center got a choke point and is almost split into 3. Summerset Mall turned into a marathon.
I think I will talk about one mall at a time in the future and try to extract some general principles from the discussion.
