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The Magic of the Mall
Cultural Context of the Mall – the mall takes advantage of
present cultural attitudes of people to entice them to buy
a) Materialism in Society – through capitalism, love for
material goods became popularb) Hidden Origins of Commodities
(through dvertising) – advertisers hide the processes
by !hich materials are made (such as !orkers being e"ploited) so
shoppers !ill notfeel guilty# $his also leads to interesting
situations (like a !orker in a garment factorybuying a shirt, not
reali%ing his o!n hands helped in its manufacture)
c) ppearance & 'unction – at the same time, advertisers tend
to emphasi%e beauty(bright colors, romantic attraction) than actual
use
The Goal of the Mall
a) Malls only goal is *O'+$ – malls are private ventures and
every actions goal isabout producing more money
b) Malls as a seudoplace – but due to the guilt usually
associated !ith love of materialgoods, malls advertise themselves
as places of beauty (see belo!) and not by its truefunction
c) $he +llusion – therefore, malls try to keep people for as
long as possible, !here they!ill be eventually tempted to buy
products !ithout feeling guilt (because they cameto the mall to
have fun, they associated shopping as fun, too)
The Magic of the Mall – the dierent themes that malls use
in advertising themselves asplaces of beauty
-) Malls as Civic Spacesi) romotion of ublic 'unctions – the
mall promotes public events in its vicinity such
as religious and government services, educational e"hibits, and
cultural events(such as recitals and .lms) and transforms itself as
a reconstruction of thetraditional pla%a
ii) /"clusion of 0egative 'unctions – the mall presents itself
as an ideali%ed civicspace, so 1ugly2 yet public aspects, like
political demonstrations, ro!dy teenagersand street people are
discouraged through the use of e"tensive security# Somepublic
services like drinking fountains are also not included since they
can lessenpro.t
3) Malls as 4iminal Spaces – image of the mall as places
associated !ith transition, (likemarketplaces, harbors and
carnivals)# $his leads the public to associate the mall !iththe
une"pected or the idea of 1letting yourself go2 – thus promoting
shopping mania
5) Malls as $ransactional Spaces – although compared to the
traditional marketplace,retail transactions in malls appear
impersonal# Malls solve this problem by including
gimmicks like retail sta dressing up in themes, and e"treme
subservience to thecustomer#
6) Malls are +nstrumental Spaces – through this illusions,
ho!ever, some aspects of malls betray the fact that they are
instrumental in the true goal of the mall (earningpro.t)# $he
inconvenient design of escalators and the di7culty of .nding
restroomssho! that malls are privately o!ned and not truly for the
public#
The Usage of Spatial Techniques by the Mall
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a) Controlling Customer 'lo! – the mall in8ects subtle
environmental changes thatcontrols !here people should go# 'or
e"ample, some areas contain e"pensiveproducts only (separating the
poor and rich), and areas typically associated !ithtypical groups
are close together (toy stores near amusement rides, clothing
storesclump together)
b) sychological eect of Spaces – careful use of elements
(lighting, foreground music,
comfortable temperature and shiny surfaces) to facilitate the
correct mood forshopping
c) 9topian 4abyrinth – malls use techni:ues to trap the people
for as long as possible,like the absence of clocks, lack of
!indo!s, almost hidden e"its, strong centralfeatures and no signs
for people to orient themselves !ithin e"cept theestablishments,
$his makes the people forget the outside !orld and vie! the
mallsperfection as above reality#
d) Movement – the mall is designed to make people move, so as to
e"pose them to asmany shops as possible# $hus rest stops are very
fe!, and people are forced to eat inestablishments 8ust to have
time to rest# Most malls are also designed to be e"ploredin a
single day, so customers !ill not be too tired and go home#
System of Signication in the Mall
a) 0atural /nvironment – natural elements like !ater imply
freshness and cleanliness
b) 0ostalgia for the ast – e"ploit public nostalgia
c) $he Carousel – symbol of innocence and beauty, has
fantastical elements
d) rt – symboli%es a noncommerciali%ed aesthetic, used to .ll
empty spaces
e) $elevision – spaces in the mall are treated like $; channels,
as an e"ample of esacapism and are meant to be 1bro!sed2 or
1surfed2 by customers
Customer Strategies for Reclaiming the Mall
a) Consumer ctivists – they e"pose the tactics of malls and sho!
the people theirmaterialistic tendencies
b) *esistance to the Mall itself – some people hold protests
against the e"istence of malls
c) $reating the Mall as a truly ublic Space – opening the mall
to all public functions,even ones that can aect pro.t
d) $actical occupation of spaces < many people, usually
teenagers, rebel against thecontrolling nature imposed by the mall
by acts like vandalism and theft
e) *einterpretation of the Malls symbols – many people are
already a!are of the tacticsused by malls and thus able to use the
malls techni:ues against itself(like freely
using all facilities !ithout buying anything)
Reference
=oss, ># (March -??5)# $he @Magic of the Mall@A n nalysis of
'orm, 'unction, and Meaning inthe Contemporary *etail Built
/nvironment. Annals of the Association of
AmericanGeographers, Vol. 83, 0o# -, pp# -
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Ee =u%man, ce BryanEel *osario, iko 4ove
>imene%, /sther4una, >oseph EanielMadarang,
>oshua 4oren%o*esuello, Matt
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