disrupting the disrupted.
The Future of Community
disrupting the disrupted is the first in a series of
explorations into and global conversations about the future of communities in a time of rapid change.
we begin with a mall.
new, safe, built for sprawling population and consumer economy.
so it grew...
and grew...
and grew...
and grew...
and then, out of the blue, a menacing dark cloud of sameness and change, changed everything for malls...
enter, the disruptors.
some biggies:
the economic crash and the smartphone
technology.
robotics, automation, stuff like that.
human factors.
politics, demographics, economics, mobility.
global disruption. the world we once knew, is new.
to fearlessly challenge convention, our advance strategy approach to design digs deep.
demographic seachanges 2.5 billion a billion more genZers wield women will enter $44 billion in spending the global workforce power by 2020 by 2040
21 billion people worldwide will be over over age 65 by 2040
by 2100, 80% of people worlwide will live in asia and africa
bricks and mortar mortality malls worldwide are dead or dying. without disruptive change this trend will continue. 1950s
1994
mobility+sharing the future will see major changes to mobilty and the growth of a sharing economy. both will drastically disrupt how we design infrastructure.
digging deep reveals new purpose and meaning for malls.
disruption to malls demands a disruptive response.
deductive reasons to fix, not nix the mall: the pluses and minuses.
the minuses. • too much retail space • disconnected from community • mostly chain brands • homogenous, rigid sense of place • sameness • change cycles glacial • one purpose-retail
and, the pluses. • space that is changeable through design • infrastructure that can be expanded • tenants motivated to change • destinational address, lots of parking • a real experience to compliment virtual • a transformable identity/ civic purpose
what if ?
++ +
the mall, plus: + new ownership models, + new mixed-use purposes, + new retail concepts, + new mobility innovation, + new civic meaning, and so on...
...had a baby?
therein lies a disruptive opportunity.
we are thinkers, strategists, then designers.
we are passionate about finding solutions and leading change.
if you hear someone say they have all the answers, someone didn’t ask very tough questions. we question everything.
if we told you your mall had new benches and tile and lighting, and the Crate & Barrel is now where the Sears was, is that disruptive...?
if we like local and walkable and community, does that sound like a mall?
if we told you to buy your friend a present they could open in five years, and would love for fifteen, or fifty...
if we’re all so connected, then... uh-oh... the internet just cra..... hello?
remember the tiny little shop in italy you found hidden down a narrow alley that has served coffee for twelve generations?
what if someone, fifteen years ago, told you the next hot restaurant would be in the back of a stepvan?
the next mall will be more than a mall.
it will be a mall plus things we lost,and things we’re discovering now.
for people who may not be born yet...
what will it be, what will we call it?
discovery takes the guts to think big, the vision to look both in and out, and the passion to make things real.
but today, just for fun, let’s look at some concept sketches that lean into the future... first, let’s explode the box!
exploding the box for the good of mall-kind. kaboom bo x
bo x- minu s
bo x -plus
bo x- plus-plu s
then, let’s move the bits around so retail becomes a journey of discovery... like surfing the net.
the high, high street
1
the retail cloud
2
the retail cloud
2
the connected basement
3
the harvested space
4
the harvested space
4
the regenerative oasis
5
so, the opportunity to disrupt disruption to malls is big.
the need to do so is upon us now.
we are looking for partners... bold+curious +imaginative+passionate about the future of community. and malls.
join us. engage us. disrupt with us...
thank you.