The Mall as the City

The Mall as the City Shopping Mall Development

Ideas of redeveloping malls has been a topic of discussion for decades, ever since the on-line shopping boom began to take hold and malls we’re slowly falling to the side, the discussion of what to do has been there. Tachieva speaks of a densification and combination in program types on dying malls site as a repair method for the suburban community. 1 There is a three step approach to identifying and repairing a mall. The first strategy is renovating the existing structure, converting the roof structure to a roof garden, and re-programing the interior program with civic or office uses. The surface parking lot is then infilled with apartment buildings, office buildings, and civic spaces. (Figure 1.12). This strategy keeps all existing elements of the mall. The second strategy is maintaining the end-capped anchor store elements and creating a main street down the main axis. The third strategy outlined in the repair manual is to completing demolish the building and create an agricultural community. developments around the world. MVRDV, a Dutch architectural firm, proposes new design ideas within the mixed-use strategy. 2 This multi-level urban living room is located in Universiade New Town, Longgang District, Shenzhen, China (Figure 1.9), is conceived around the notion of sustainability, the project, situated on defining public space, will be an integrated part of the university neighborhood, bringing innovation and liveliness to the area. The project is an interwoven thread of mixed program elements unifying within an organic curvature that identifies as a new element within the existing context.

The repair manual offers important insight into what an end result can look like but a large deterrent from simply implementing these strategies is the lack of individuality to s place. The first strategy noted is a strong strategy with property developers because in most cases, remodeling and re-purposing a mall structure is the cheapest option. We see thought provoking design for mixed use 1 Tachieva, Galina. Sprawl Repair Manual. Island Press, 2010. p. 135 2 https://www.archdaily.com/936115/mvrdv-wins-competition-to-design-the-mixed-useshimao-shenkong-international-center-in-shenzhen-china.

Figure 1.9: Mixed-use development for the Shimao ShenKong Int.Centre

SHOPPING MALL SHOPPING MALL

Public realm dominated by parking lots and a megastructure 4-94. Public realm dominated by parking lots and a megastructure Figure 1.11: Typical shopping mall site layout