SAHARA Highlights: Malls

In this scorching hot summer, people are heading to air-conditioned public spaces, such as libraries, movie theaters, restaurants and supermarkets. One popular place to cool off is the shopping mall. One can shop, dine, go to the cinema, visit a game arcade, socialize, and much more. The modern mall follows the covered market and food hall types as a venue with functions far beyond simple buying needs.  

 

The images below come from both the Members and Public SAHARA collections. Love what you see? There is more where that came from. Visit SAHARA and search for ‘shopping mall,’ ‘shopping arcade’ or ‘covered market’ to view more examples of mall architecture.

 

 

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Let's take a trip to the mall...

Gazi Hüsrev-Beg, Gazi Hüsrev-Begova Covered Market, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1537.

This covered market was part of a larger complex, with a mosque, madrasa, imaret, guesthouse, inns and public toilet. Photograph by Patricia Blessing, 2015.

 

Toqi Telpak Furushon, Bukhara, Uzbekistan, 1570.

The complex was a selling place for coats, hats, furs and fabrics; it still houses craft and trade merchants. Photograph by Gerald Moorhead, 1992.

 

Giuseppe Mengoni, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Milan, Italy, 1861-77.

This four-story structure with two glass-vaulted arcades is the oldest indoor “shopping mall”. Photograph by William Kessler 1965.

 

George McRae, Queen Victoria Building, Sydney, Australia, 1893-98.

Now known as QVB, it was built in elaborate Romanesque-style, despite a recession, partly to employ out-of-work craftspeople. Photograph by Dell Upton, 2015.

 

Joseph Oswald & Son, Central Arcade, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, 1906-07.

One of many nineteenth/early twentieth century covered shopping arcades in England. Photograph by Hazel Cowie, 2020.

 

Gruen Associates, Southdale Center, Edina, Minnesota, 1954-56.

View of food court and seating area. Photograph by G.E. Kidder Smith, ca. 1968.

 

DP Architects, William S.W. Lim, and Kheng Soon Tay, People’s Park Complex, Singapore, 1967-73.

One of the earliest atrium-centered high-rise shopping malls in SE Asia. Photograph by Mark Hinchman, 2023.

 

Morgan, Walls and Clements, The Citadel Outlet Mall, Commerce, California, 1929 (original Samson Tyre and Rubber Co. Building), 2010 (outlet mall).

The original structure was designed in the Exotic Revival style of an Assyrian castle; the modern mall repurposes parts of that building. Photograph by Dell Upton, 2010.

 

Balonas & Menano Architects, Passeio dos Clérigos & Praça de Lisboa, Porto, Portugal, 2013.

The rooftop park adds to the usefulness of the shopping mall and commercial center. Photograph by Dell Upton, 2018.

 

Acropolis Shopping Mall, Kolkata, India, 2015.

A typical multi-level mall. Photograph by Soumya Dasgupta, 2017.

 

Santiago Calatrava Valls, Galleria and Heritage Square, BCE Place, Toronto, Canada, 1992.

The innovative design connects shopping, office buildings, and nineteenth-century building facades. Photograph by Dell Upton, 2001.

 

Johnson/Burgee Architects, IDS Center, Crystal Court, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1969-72.

The classic American 1970s ‘hang-out’ mall. Photograph by G.E. Kidder Smith, ca 1972.