Mall maker : Victor Gruen, architect of an American dream / M. Jeffrey Hardwick.

9780812221107 (pbk. : alk. paper)
9780812237627 (alk. paper)
0812237625 (alk. paper)

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, c2004.

English

276 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.

NA737.G78 H37 2004

725/.21/092

"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. Malls are so ubiquitous that it would surprise most people 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."--BOOK JACKET.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

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