Malls are a special architectural typology in American culture. They essentially served as indoor cities for youth of the 1960s through the 1990s, and even inspired movies such as the classic "Mallrats." This indoor shopping culture began to overtake small businesses in city centers. But ironically, malls were eventually done in by suburban sprawl, re-urbanization, and eventually online shopping, and many stand vacant or mostly vacant. Of the almost 1,200 enclosed malls in America, only about 400 are thriving. They are being repurposed into everything from hockey rinks to medical centers. Maybe someday they will be converted into post-consumer dwellings, the 2030s answer to post-industrial lofts. New Urbanist Ellen Dunham-Jones advocates for converting them to mixed-use development real estate. One spectacular example is the Randall Park Mall in North Randall, Ohio. The small town near Cleveland had a population of 1,500, and the mall employed 500 people. This enormous mis-allocation of resources was the world’s largest shopping center, at nearly two million square meters. The mall eventually was closed in 2009, and photographer Seph Lawless re-visited it five years later. All Images via weezbo.com ...
Malls are a special architectural typology in American culture. They essentially served as indoor cities for youth of the 1960s through the 1990s, and even inspired movies such as the classic "Mallrats." This indoor shopping culture began to overtake small businesses in city centers. But ironically, malls were eventually done in by suburban sprawl, re-urbanization, and eventually online shopping, and many stand vacant or mostly vacant. Of the almost 1,200 enclosed malls in America, only about 400 are thriving. They are being repurposed into everything from hockey rinks to medical centers. Maybe someday they will be converted into post-consumer dwellings, the 2030s answer to post-industrial lofts. New Urbanist Ellen Dunham-Jones advocates for converting them to mixed-use development real estate. One spectacular example is the Randall Park Mall in North Randall, Ohio. The small town near Cleveland had a population of 1,500, and the mall employed 500 people. This enormous mis-allocation of resources was the world’s largest shopping center, at nearly two million square meters. The mall eventually was closed in 2009, and photographer Seph Lawless re-visited it five years later. All Images via weezbo.com ...