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  • Mall Maker: Victor Gruen, Architect of an American Dream

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Mall Maker: Victor Gruen, Architect of an American Dream

by M. Jeffrey Hardwick (Author) Format: Hardcover
4.1 out of 5 stars (24)
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The shopping mall is both the most visible and the most contentious symbol of American prosperity. Despite their convenience, malls are routinely criticized for representing much that is wrong in America—sprawl, conspicuous consumption, the loss of regional character, and the decline of Mom and Pop stores. So ubiquitous are malls that most people would be suprised to learn that they are the brainchild of a single person, architect Victor Gruen.

An immigrant from Austria who fled the Nazis in 1938, Gruen based his idea for the mall on an idealized America: the dream of concentrated shops that would benefit the businessperson as well as the consumer and that would foster a sense of shared community. Modernist Philip Johnson applauded Gruen for creating a true civic art and architecture that enriched Americans' daily lives, and for decades he received praise from luminaries such as Lewis Mumford, Winthrop Rockefeller, and Lady Bird Johnson. Yet, in the end, Gruen returned to Europe, thoroughly disillusioned with his American dream.

In Mall Maker, the first biography of this visionary spirit, M. Jeffrey Hardwick relates Gruen's successes and failures—his work at the 1939 World's Fair, his makeover of New York's Fifth Avenue boutiques, his rejected plans for reworking entire communities, such as Fort Worth, Texas, and his crowning achievement, the enclosed shopping mall. Throughout Hardwick illuminates the dramatic shifts in American culture during the mid-twentieth century, notably the rise of suburbia and automobiles, the death of downtown, and the effect these changes had on American life. Gruen championed the redesign of suburbs and cities through giant shopping malls, earnestly believing that he was promoting an American ideal, the ability to build a community. Yet, as malls began covering the landscape and downtowns became more depressed, Gruen became painfully aware that his dream of overcoming social problems through architecture and commerce was slipping away. By the tumultuous year of 1968, it had disappeared.

Victor Gruen made America depend upon its shopping malls. While they did not provide an invigorated sense of community as he had hoped, they are enduring monuments to the lure of consumer culture.

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  1. Print length
    288 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    University of Pennsylvania Press
  4. Publication date
    October 28, 2003
  5. Dimensions
    6.25 x 1 x 9.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0812237625
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0812237627
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Victor Gruen may well have been the most influential architect of the twentieth century."—Malcom Gladwell, New Yorker



"Mall Maker is an important book. . . . The fact that Gruen's buildings are more lived in than the work of nearly any other modern architect makes him a designer worth reading about."—Metropolis Magazine



"An insightful account . . . in lucid prose."—New York Times



"Hardwick's thesis is compelling . . . : instead of saving the city, Gruen inadvertently contributed to its demise."—Washington Times



"A pioneering book on a seriously neglected subject, and everybody interested in the evolution of twentieth-century cities should read it."—Alex Garvin, Archives of American Art Journal



"Hardwick brings fresh insight into the specific role of shopping centers in spawning the twin evils of sprawl and urban decline."—Enterprise & Society

About the Author

M. Jeffrey Hardwick is Senior Program Officer at the National Endowment for the Humanities. He earned his Ph.D. degree in American studies from Yale University.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Pennsylvania Press
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 28, 2003
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0812237625
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0812237627
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.4 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1 x 9.5 inches
  • Best Sellers Rank: #3,964,952 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 out of 5 stars (24)

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M. Jeffrey Hardwick

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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
24 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

  • Stella Carrier
    5 out of 5 stars
    Some History On a Mall Architect
    Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2019
    Format: Kindle
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    I admit that the purchase of this kindlebook that is Mall Maker: Victor Gruen Architect of An American Dream by M Jeffrey Hardwick is indirectly influenced by a multiple number of factors. One of the factors; even before I had a strange sleeptime dream around the December 2017/January 2018 timeframe where I was socializing with multiple friends inside a futuristic version of the Pentagon City mall (in Arlington Virginia) that appeared to look like some mall around 90 to 100 years into the future, and I always believed that multiple malls across America are going to be around for many more years regardless of how long some malls stay open. Additionally, the area that I currently reside in puts my husband and I in easy proximity to multiple malls because of the excellent public transportation options within the metropolitan Washington D.C. area; Westfield Wheaton Mall in Wheaton Maryland, Beltway Plaza Mall in Greenbelt Maryland, The Mall At Prince George’s in Hyattsville Maryland, Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda Maryland, Tyson’s Corner Center Mall in Tysons Virginia. Gruen was credited with designing multiple suburban shopping centers,Some of the intense multiple details in this kindlebook: Gruen was a Jewish refugee from Vienna Austria who escaped the occupation of Hitler in 1938,Gruen’s affiliation with urban renewal concepts, the success of the Kalamazoo mall inspired other cities across America to contemplate the mall idea,his connection with the Midtown Plaza Project,Victor Gruen’s company had been thriving in America for at least 17 years, after living in the United States for 30 years Gruen relocated back to Vienna Austria,a photo image of a pedestrian mall designed by Victor Gruen and Garrett Eckbo for Fresno California in 1968,Gruen made time to write some books during this career that are listed to include Centers for the Urban Environment-Shopping Towns USA-and the Heart of Our Cities,Victor Gruen is listed to have passed away by February 14 1980 less than a few years after he tried to get a mall built in a certain area overseas that was best with political unrest though he was acknowleged by other writers for his contributions to include Wolf Von Eckhardt and the Washington Post, and more.

    2 people found this helpful
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  • Kathryn Burke
    4 out of 5 stars
    Should be on every urban scholar's Must Read list
    Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2007
    Format: Hardcover
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    There are only two things to say about this book on Gruen the Mall Maker: 1) The writing must be overlooked, and 2) the substance of the book is crucial to understanding American cities and American culture as we know it today. It made me want to read more about architecture, city planning and economic trends as market forces redesigning neighborhoods, towns, cities and, ultimately, our country. It made me want to go back to school and get a degree in Urban Planning. It made me want to petition the school board to include the study of commerical design and the rise of malls in every high school American history class. It made me want to recommend it to all of my friends who live in cities, love cities, love their malls, live near malls and who shop at malls. The subject matter fascinated me; the writing - not so much so.

    9 people found this helpful
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  • Carl Rj Klitzke
    5 out of 5 stars
    Great book about Victor Gruen
    Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2012
    Format: Hardcover
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    If you want to learn about the life of Victor Gruen, this is it. The author seems to have put a lot of work into making this book. Lots of good pictures to go with vivid descriptions of the storefront and mall designs.

    4 people found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customer
    5 out of 5 stars
    Awesome book and great insight on the history and the ...
    Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2015
    Format: Hardcover
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    Awesome book and great insight on the history and the design of malls. I am very happy to have this book in my collection.

    One person found this helpful
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  • J. Anderson
    4 out of 5 stars
    First?
    Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2004
    Format: Hardcover
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    Mr. Gruen developed and expanded the concept, but no, he did not originate it - he and the automobile made it more successful and widespread, enriching us all.

    1956 the first mall? Er, no, not really: not by a century. Google "Arcade+Providence"

    The Arcade Building building by J.C. Bucklin & Russell Warren, 1827-1829

    The shopping arcade started here. While not called "shopping mall" the arcades were the start of having multiple shops under a single roof. The shopping mall is the same, with addition of parking and not usually urban but sub-urban or even rural.

    2 people found this helpful
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  • SOCAL
    5 out of 5 stars
    New view of malls and shopping
    Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2003
    Format: Hardcover
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    I heard the author on the radio and thought this sounded interesting, it was definitely worth it. I'm an architect and have worked on a few retail projects, although no malls yet, so I could easily identify with Gruen. He seemed both to be a naive dreamer and a very calculating businessman. He was also caught up in the American cycle of trying to make one more buck. Gruen's story made me rethink the reasons why Americans love shopping so much--all the lights, art, and designs do nothing but make us believe that shopping is enjoyable. Is it really? Gruen's story also made me think about why architects think they can solve the world's problems with better buildings; I guess it goes with the territory.

    17 people found this helpful
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  • "mmoolson"
    5 out of 5 stars
    What a character
    Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2003
    Format: Hardcover
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    This book is totally fascinating, although a tad repetitive about retailing theories for my taste. I would never have guessed what an amazing influence Gruen had on American life (and how egotisitical he was). I think the author quotes the architect Philip Johnson saying that Gruen influenced America much more than all the arty modern architects put together. And that is so true. Gruen seemed to anticipate future trends in retailing, city planning, and architecture and then actually build them. The one question that I had was whether or not Gruen was a good guy or only in it for himself.

    15 people found this helpful
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  • "adellaharris"
    5 out of 5 stars
    I shopped in his mall!
    Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2003
    Format: Hardcover
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    My first true mall shopping was done in a Gruen mall, although I was quite unaware at the time of the fascinating story behind this complex man and his vision for America's public spaces.

    Thanks to this engaging work by Hardwick, I feel now feel enlightened as I prowl the mall that Gruen built. You don't need to be an architect or a social scientist to enjoy this book because the author makes the subject approachable for the inner shopper in everyone.

    12 people found this helpful
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