Victor Gruen

VG VG

Pandora‘s Box by Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1881 (source: wikipeida.org)

Victor Gruen (1903-1980) was an Austrian architect and is best known as the main innovator of the modern shopping mall. Being born into a Jewish family, he had to flee Austria to the United States in 1938. This migration led to what became VG one the biggest architectural innovations of the 20th century. The premise of the shopping mall was quite simple in its nature. Through his observations of the patterns of urban spaces in Europe and America, he envisioned spaces where cultural, artistic and entertainment practices could come together and create a community for the public and all of its users - Spaces with their individual rules and norms. A mini city of its own. And all cities are designed with a distinct grid and structure. Originating from one of the most culturally rich countries in Europe, he had the vision of creating suburban spaces, using the urban structure of European cities. A space that contrasts the big and bold urban grids and structures of big American cities, much more condensed yet finer and more nuanced. A European haven, surrounded by an American whole. This idea was realized in the year 1954 when Northland Mall, the first ever shopping mall was opened near Detroit. But the reality of the situation had shifted a bit from what Gruen originally had in mind. His image of a haven for the public had been directed in a much more commercial and economical direction. The investors, upon hearing the original open-air, walkable mall proposal, saw the opportunity to use this innovation to increase their own profits. This structure could be arranged in such a way to orchestrate the users’ movement. The positioning of the shops can be made to maximize the profits of the owners.

The European city structure, full of dead ends, small alleys and narrow streets was used to better fit and serve the American values of capitalism. An ironic contrast and bastardization of the original idea.

This stark contrast has been used and translated into the concept of Symbiocity. The premise of the European grid within a greater American grid has been used to define the general form the two main entities inside the volume, namely the “recreational” and the “industrial” .

VG VG

Kalamzoo Mall, Michigan, 1959 (source: wttw.com)