and scale to the complex, but their age and size suggest that the complex may have evolved over time. A two-way, meandering vehicular path in the center of the complex functions as a main street, providing vehicular access, limited storefront parking, and in general lending ambiance to the complex. The street is terminated on the north by Neiman Marcus and by Macy’s on the south. Pedestrian access from the parking decks to the east is through paseos, or pedestrian passageways. The architect enhanced the experience here by placing the paseos on axis with a major tree, wrapping retail storefront back into the passageway, and introducing the sound of flowing water. These elements, combined with a finer level of finish and detail than one might expect in what is often treated as perfunctory space, result in a surprisingly pleasant experience and raises one’s expectations for the rest of the project. The retail portion is treated much like an indoor mall in that a contiguous shell is provided as individual retailers utilize more or less standard storefront designs. Unlike strip retail, this concept provides each retailer with the perception of autonomy. Where in other projects this might lead to an overall feeling of fragmentation, the combination of the meandering street and large trees allows one to “discover” the complex in smaller pieces and for the most part works to unify the various components. Architecturally, the most successful piece is the block that houses retail and commercial office space. To a large extent this success is due to having a single architect for that block, in addition to requiring bays to
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