Plaza del Sol
Encyclopedia
Plaza del Sol is one of the largest shopping mall
s in the urban area of Guadalajara
, Jalisco
, Mexico
, located in the municipality of Zapopan
. Built at the end of the sixties by the architect Alejandro Zohn
, it was the first mall in Latin america
. It is the largest outdoor mall in the city, located next to the Plaza Milenium and future Torrena
.
It is located a few blocks away from the Expo Guadalajara and the Guadalajara World Trade Center on one of the highest commercial areas of the city and rivals in importance with La Gran Plaza
, Plaza Pabellón, Centro Magno and Galerías Guadalajara. Its tag line: “Plaza del Sol: todo” (“Plaza del Sol: everything”) is one of the most prominent branding mechanisms in Guadalajara today.
thoroughfare) and delineated crosswalks with stoplights allow for crossing López Mateos Avenue. This initial connection to the community has allowed for a dynamic commercial life as well along López Mateos Avenue, including the Presidente Intercontinental Hotel, one of the largest in the city.
The mall is divided into 13 zones, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, O, P, R and Z. each area has different types of shops, the twists that are offered by the mall, in general, are: clothing stores, financial services, soda fountains, coffee shops, electronics stores, stationery, pharmacy, betting, among others. The mall sprawls like a park, with 270 commercial spaces, outdoor patios, trees and garden areas, and parking for 2100 cars. [2010]
It has a large capacity parking and open space to relax.
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
s in the urban area of Guadalajara
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
, Jalisco
Jalisco
Jalisco officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in Western Mexico and divided in 125 municipalities and its capital city is Guadalajara.It is one of the more important states...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, located in the municipality of Zapopan
Zapopan
Zapopan is a city and municipality located in the Mexican state of Jalisco, which is part of the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area. It is best known as being the home of the Virgin of Zapopan, an image of the Virgin Mary which was made in the 16th century. This image has been credited with a number of...
. Built at the end of the sixties by the architect Alejandro Zohn
Alejandro Zohn
Alejandro Zohn was a Mexican architect. He was a Holocaust survivor who grew up in Western Mexico....
, it was the first mall in Latin america
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
. It is the largest outdoor mall in the city, located next to the Plaza Milenium and future Torrena
Torrena
The Torrena, a planned -high telecommunications and entertainment vaporware tower in the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. The tower has been under construction since the spring of 2005....
.
It is located a few blocks away from the Expo Guadalajara and the Guadalajara World Trade Center on one of the highest commercial areas of the city and rivals in importance with La Gran Plaza
La Gran Plaza
La Gran Plaza is a shopping mall in the city of Guadalajara, Mexico....
, Plaza Pabellón, Centro Magno and Galerías Guadalajara. Its tag line: “Plaza del Sol: todo” (“Plaza del Sol: everything”) is one of the most prominent branding mechanisms in Guadalajara today.
Description
As in the US, shopping malls have become the new social meeting points of the community. In Guadalajara, however, these are ‘charged’ with a particular use, that of the traditional plaza, which was not only a meeting place, but one that was an integral part of the social and urban layout, and of the surrounding world (the plaza would be visited in the evening, connecting the times/rhythms of pedestrians and nature at a moment of strong temporal transition: sunset). Of all the larger malls in the city today, Plaza del Sol (appropriately named ‘Plaza of the Sun’) is the only one to maintain the layout of an ‘open-air mall’, while all the others, newer, are based on the typology of the ‘enclosed mall with anchor stores’. Unlike the newer, shinier malls, Plaza del Sol also maintains a strong connection to its surrounding neighborhood, Ciudad del Sol (which was built around the mall). The strong connection to the adjacent community happens through a grand gateway to the west (where the surrounding parking field is reduced to a narrowthoroughfare) and delineated crosswalks with stoplights allow for crossing López Mateos Avenue. This initial connection to the community has allowed for a dynamic commercial life as well along López Mateos Avenue, including the Presidente Intercontinental Hotel, one of the largest in the city.
The mall is divided into 13 zones, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, O, P, R and Z. each area has different types of shops, the twists that are offered by the mall, in general, are: clothing stores, financial services, soda fountains, coffee shops, electronics stores, stationery, pharmacy, betting, among others. The mall sprawls like a park, with 270 commercial spaces, outdoor patios, trees and garden areas, and parking for 2100 cars. [2010]
It has a large capacity parking and open space to relax.