Victor Gruen
Encyclopedia
Victor David Gruen, born Viktor David Grünbaum (July 18, 1903 - February 14, 1980), was an Austria
n-born commercial architect best known as a pioneer in the design of shopping mall
s in the United States
.
and studied architecture at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. A committed socialist, from 1926 until 1934 he ran the "political cabaret
at the Naschmarkt
"-theatre. At that time he came to know Felix Slavik, the future mayor of Vienna, and they became friends. When Germany
annexed Austria in 1938, he emigrated to the United States. Short and stout, he landed "with an architect's degree, eight dollars, and no English." Arriving in New York he changed his name to Gruen from Grünbaum and started to work as a draftsman.
In 1941 he moved to Los Angeles and in 1951 he founded the architectural firm "Victor Gruen Associates", which was soon to become one of the major planning offices of that time.
After the war, he designed the first suburban open-air shopping facility called Northland Mall
near Detroit in 1954. After the success of the first project, he designed his best known work for the owners of Dayton Department stores, the 800000 square feet (74,322.4 m²) Southdale Mall
, the first enclosed shopping mall in the country in Edina, Minnesota
. Opening in 1956, Southdale was meant as the kernel of a full-fledged community. The mall was commercially successful, but the original design was never fully realized, as the intended apartment buildings, schools, medical facilities, park and lake were not built. Because he invented the modern mall, Malcolm Gladwell
, writing in The New Yorker
, suggested that "Victor Gruen may well have been the most influential architect of the twentieth century."
Gruen was the principal architect for a luxury housing development built on the 48 acres (194,249.3 m²) site of Boston
, Massachusetts
' former West End neighborhood. The first of several Gruen towers and plazas was completed in 1962. This development, known as Charles River Park is regarded by many as a dramatically ruthless re-imagining of a former immigrant tenement neighborhood (Gans, O'Conner, The Hub).
Victor Gruen designed the 55,000 square-meter, business complex, Centre Gefinor, which was built in the late 1960s on Rue Clémenceau
in Beirut
, Lebanon
.
Gruen also designed the Greengate Mall in Greensburg, Pennsylvania
which opened in 1965, as well as the Lakehurst Mall
in 1971 for Waukegan, IL. Despite Gruen's efforts in the United States, in 1978, two years before his death in a country house outside Vienna, Gruen disavowed other shopping mall developments as having "bastardized" his ideas.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n-born commercial architect best known as a pioneer in the design of shopping mall
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 United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Biography
Gruen was born in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and studied architecture at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. A committed socialist, from 1926 until 1934 he ran the "political cabaret
Kabarett
Kabarett is a form of cabaret which developed in Germany from 1901, with the creation of the Überbrettl venue, and that by the Weimar era in the mid 1920s was characterized by political satire and gallows humor...
at the Naschmarkt
Naschmarkt
The Naschmarkt is Vienna's most popular market. Located at the Wienzeile over the Wien River it is about 1,5 kilometers long.The Naschmarkt has existed since the 16th century when mainly milk bottles were sold...
"-theatre. At that time he came to know Felix Slavik, the future mayor of Vienna, and they became friends. When Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
annexed Austria in 1938, he emigrated to the United States. Short and stout, he landed "with an architect's degree, eight dollars, and no English." Arriving in New York he changed his name to Gruen from Grünbaum and started to work as a draftsman.
In 1941 he moved to Los Angeles and in 1951 he founded the architectural firm "Victor Gruen Associates", which was soon to become one of the major planning offices of that time.
After the war, he designed the first suburban open-air shopping facility called Northland Mall
Northland Center (Michigan)
Northland Center is a shopping mall located at the intersection of Northwestern Highway and Greenfield Road in Southfield, an inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Michigan, United States. Construction began in 1952 and the mall opened on March 22, 1954...
near Detroit in 1954. After the success of the first project, he designed his best known work for the owners of Dayton Department stores, the 800000 square feet (74,322.4 m²) Southdale Mall
Southdale Center
Southdale Center, commonly known as just Southdale, is a shopping mall in Edina, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, which opened in 1956. It is the United States' oldest fully enclosed, climate-controlled mall...
, the first enclosed shopping mall in the country in Edina, Minnesota
Edina, Minnesota
Edina is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and a first-ring suburb situated immediately southwest of Minneapolis. Edina began as a small farming and milling community in the 1860s. The population was 47,941 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
. Opening in 1956, Southdale was meant as the kernel of a full-fledged community. The mall was commercially successful, but the original design was never fully realized, as the intended apartment buildings, schools, medical facilities, park and lake were not built. Because he invented the modern mall, Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell, CM is a Canadian journalist, bestselling author, and speaker. He is currently based in New York City and has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996...
, writing in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, suggested that "Victor Gruen may well have been the most influential architect of the twentieth century."
Gruen was the principal architect for a luxury housing development built on the 48 acres (194,249.3 m²) site of Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
' former West End neighborhood. The first of several Gruen towers and plazas was completed in 1962. This development, known as Charles River Park is regarded by many as a dramatically ruthless re-imagining of a former immigrant tenement neighborhood (Gans, O'Conner, The Hub).
Victor Gruen designed the 55,000 square-meter, business complex, Centre Gefinor, which was built in the late 1960s on Rue Clémenceau
Rue Clémenceau
Rue Clemenceau is a commercial and residential street in Beirut, Lebanon. The street was named in honor of Georges Clemenceau who accepted the post of premier of France in 1917 during World War I....
in Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
.
Gruen also designed the Greengate Mall in Greensburg, Pennsylvania
Greensburg, Pennsylvania
Greensburg is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, and a part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The city is named after Nathanael Greene, a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War...
which opened in 1965, as well as the Lakehurst Mall
Lakehurst Mall
Lakehurst Mall was the first regional shopping complex in the northern Chicago suburb county of Lake County. It was built in 1971 to service the growing town of Waukegan, the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, and eventually the far northern suburban sprawl of Chicago...
in 1971 for Waukegan, IL. Despite Gruen's efforts in the United States, in 1978, two years before his death in a country house outside Vienna, Gruen disavowed other shopping mall developments as having "bastardized" his ideas.
Selected writings
- Victor Gruen, Larry Smith: Shopping towns USA: The planning of shopping centers, Reinhold, New York, 1960
- Victor Gruen: The heart of our cities: The urban crisis: diagnosis and cure, Thames and Hudson, London, 1965
- Victor Gruen: Centers for the urban environment: Survival of the cities, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1973
See also
- Gruen transferGruen transferIn shopping mall design, the Gruen transfer is the moment when a consumer enters a shopping mall and, surrounded by an intentionally confusing layout, loses track of their original intentions...
- Midtown Plaza (Rochester)Midtown Plaza (Rochester)Midtown Plaza was an indoor shopping mall in downtown Rochester, New York, the first urban indoor mall in the United States.-History:...
- South Coast PlazaSouth Coast PlazaSouth Coast Plaza is an upscale-luxury shopping center in Costa Mesa, California, USA, in Orange County. The largest mall in California, its sales of over 1.5 billion are highest in the United States...
- Fox Plaza (San Francisco)Fox Plaza (San Francisco)Archstone Fox Plaza is a 29-story building located at 1390 Market Street in the Civic Center area of San Francisco. Built in 1966, the tower stands on the site of the former historic Fox Theatre at 1350 Market, which was opened in June 1929 and demolished in 1963.The first twelve floors contain...
- Gateway Center (Newark)Gateway Center (Newark)The Gateway Center is a commercial complex in Newark, New Jersey. Located downtown just west of Newark Penn Station between Raymond Boulevard and Market Street, skyways and pedestrian malls interconnect all of the office towers, a Hilton Hotel, the train station, and the Newark Legal Center...
- Fulton Mall (Fresno)Fulton Mall (Fresno)Fulton Mall is a six-block pedestrian mall located in the central business district of downtown Fresno, California. The mall runs along historic Fulton Street between Inyo and Tuolumne Streets and is home to a wide variety of shopping, restaurants, offices and public art...
- Randhurst MallRandhurst MallRandhurst Mall, previously known as Randhurst Center or simply Randhurst, was a shopping mall that was located at the corner of Rand Road and Elmhurst Road in Mount Prospect, Illinois. The mall took its name from combining the names of these two roads...
- Twelve Oaks MallTwelve Oaks MallTwelve Oaks Mall is a super-regional shopping mall with over 180 stores located in Novi, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The mall is located on the Northeast corner of Interstate 96 and Novi Road. Taubman Centers is the owner and manager of the mall, and it is anchored by Macy's, Lord & Taylor,...
- Port Plaza Mall
- Cherry Hill Mall
Further reading
- Alex Wall, Victor Gruen: From Urban Shop to New City, ActarACTARACTAR is part of ActarBirkhäuser is a publisher of books on architecture, graphic design, and contemporary art. It was founded in 1994 and is based in Barcelona....
, Barcelona, 2006, ISBN 978-84-95951-87-8 - M. Jeffrey Hardwick, ''Mall Maker: Victor Gruen, Architect of an American Dream, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003, ISBN 978-0-8122-3762-7
- Anette Baldauf, ''Shopping Town USA: Victor Gruen, the Cold War, and the Shopping Mall". In: Mute 30.1. 2008