Move Mall to High Mall
Nigh, not this time, mile high
mall high mall
If you, the reader, are an urban planner, an architect, a town planner, a real estate developer, a leasing agent, a mall guest, or other interested party this may be a must read. The generic Developer is a unique entity as developers are known to provide design and construction jobs, by shaping our cities and suburbs. As a rule, they collect more than ample profitable results, potentially making enormous amounts of money.
From an opinionated perspective, one that has been with some of us for a long time, the developers are quite an unimaginative bunch of entrepreneurs, having appeared mostly to be motivated by a majority of economic goals, seldom subject to social justice conditions, as it applies to the underserved populations. As always there are exceptions. OK.
This zoetic message focuses us on possibilities with genuine good outcomes.
Basically take every semi-empty mall in America cut some small holes in the flat roofs of one and two story existing structures, open up the bay sizes for columns with a steel or concrete or wood frame, and then build on upward to as high of 11 stories and voilà, mall high malls.
Have you ever lived in or visited Paris France? How about Washington DC in the US of A? If you have what is it in your mind it strikes you as appealing or not, unique or not, a desire to be there or not? For me personally, cities exhibiting on an urban scale,ring a humane degree of fortune to the humans that occupy its streets and buildings. In the case of Paris, a height story limitation was placed citywide as a design feature. François Mansart and others, before and after, came along with a roof that occupied additional floor area under a roof. hence the seven story actual height was realized, taxes avoided. 1977 for about 10 weeks I lived on the seven story walk up under the enclosure of a ‘mansart’ roof.
Is a case of Washington DC the height limitation is just about twice the height as is Paris, say 12 stories on the street side, then there are setbacks jumping up 14 possibly 15 stories, but no higher. If you’ve been there you know how that compares to other cities without height restrictions, say for instance New York City, or Los Angeles, or Houston or the home of the skyscraper, Chicago. My own preference are the cities with the lower height of buildings with the occasional obelisk, or Eiffel Tower, or Washington monument, poking its way up into the sky, giving orientation, beacons of light and direction. We start this message with this urban analysis if you will, as it relates to what we call here in this message the mall high mall.
… ideal height for our human spirit is acceptable at 11 stories.
Do you know the story of Frank Lloyd Wright and his design for the mile high building, yes? He did make a design and drew up. It was never built. Indeed that height has been achieved by a little over 50% or say 2,717 feet on other built structures since his concept drawings were published.
Is it possible to build a structure one mile high? Given the right engineering and materials, it is possible. Although quite impractical for a host of reasons, we shall not discuss except for one reason, height, yes height.
In the lands between the east and west coast one is sure to hear the real estate developer say, ‘we have so much land at our fingertips why should we develop high (up)?’. Of course, I dispute the claim. Take a simple example. Build 20 ranch bergs houses complete with foundations and roofs, for 20,000 gross square feet, or, build 200 foot story building with one foundation and one roof. Yes, the builder is required to add some elevators. However the building footprint of the tall structure is immensely less than 20 ranch bergs sitting on a subdivision plat. This example of course is not fitting into this zoetic message because our ideal height is exceeded. People have studied height in relation to the human proportions for centuries. According to the knowledge I have gleaned, a 11 story structure is sufficiently compatible proportionally with the human psyche.
Although I’ve worked on structures designed by others that reach 73 floors into the sky, I do not advocate this kind of height development. It has been suggested to me and I relay to you, this sort of height is dehumanizing to the human spirit, especially when there’s a conglomerate of such structures in small defined areas, as it is in normal big metro downtown areas. Thus the ideal height for our human spirit is acceptable at 11 stories.
… aside from shopping.
There are about 1200 regional malls throughout the US of A today, approximately one quarter of these massive land grabs are failing in terms of occupancy, revenue generation, and upkeep. Some, as I have witnessed, some developers will tear down an entire mall and rebuild it from scratch. This is not a pleasant or suitable solution. Such malls developed and built in three decades or less, then destroyed and rebuilt is not sound ecology.
We want to take a stronger outlook, forecast for smarter more environmentally beneficial use of our limited natural resources, for the benefit of future generations. Not all humans will be boarding spaceships to go to Mars.
Yes take the three empty anchor stores in your regional mall, build upwards anywhere from 7 to 11 story high, on the same existing building footprints, automatically gain land savings, preservation, and extension to our forest and agricultural land parcels. The structures can have multitude uses. Some occupancies may be residential, may be mercantile, may be office use, may be healing and medical areas, may be light industrial, may be educational, may be entertainment centers, or any combination of the above and uses not even mentioned here.
Yes zoning, fire and building codes are to in place with strict oversight of the architects, engineers, authorized examiners working hand in hand with field monitoring inspectors for repurposed malls. Construction can begin quickly, as financing and planning has materialized. It is a better way for all.
Because the malls are not fully occupied the single shops can be consolidated to certain areas of them all. Hence those areas now vacated can be developed. They too can rise 7 to 11 stories with similar or other uses besides retail. Now the mall high mall will be more than three-quarter occupied built up to certain heights with certain uses. The remaining one story structures relocate themselves into other parts of the mall which allows for development of the remnant low density areas.
Of course the ‘mallway’ predicated in the 50s on the concourse, or a pedestrian promenade, if you will, caught on in American shopping. Certainly this element, the promenade, can be incorporated into the future master plan and extend beyond the enclosure walls of the existing structure into a botanical wonderland and connect a multitude of uses, aside from shopping.
My top three transit methods are pedestrian walking, bicycling, and E-biking. Yours?
The mall high mall Is a forward thinking concept countering suburban sprawl, establishing humane urban density, resulting in long needed rural preservation. The number one regulation is in regards to maintain the appropriate heights for vertical extensions of dilapidated unoccupied Malls.
Repurposed parking lots will convert into naturally landscaped gardens. A grand outcome of our designs will flower and flourish. So as to think we are not banning all cars, portions of acres of parking lots can easily be converted to subterranean parking structures which dot the unseen landscapes far and wide across America. The better news is to know there will be fewer cars because through improved living density among the population.
Many modes of transportation exist outside the automobile as we open ourselves to those possibilities because of efficiency, safety, practicality, common sense, and climate change. I’m sure it’s a bet that if you gave a list of your top five means of getting around, there’s a good chance the automobile would not even be in the top three, am I correct? My top three transit methods are pedestrian walking, bicycling, and E-biking. Yours?
Regarding the demise of our malls, ask ourselves:
What happens if the outside developer continues to bulldoze our malls, the treasures of our past, in the name of progress? Does it even have to be an outside developer? Could a power-hungry politician sanitary sewer man grab investors and sway an uninformed public, or private company?
The earth has limited resources we should limit our growth patterns while at the same time consider ramifications to structures to communicate closely conservatively, and continuously with the ground and a modest 100 feet above the first floor.
Are we to continue bowing to the whims of the urban developer who without foresight, except of course the monetary gains, will continue to create tomorrow’s real estate slums without regard for physicality, mindfulness or human emotions?
Cities of course change over time, but it’s not always foreseeable what is ahead, however, diversity allows for a broad thought for engagement with our environment, less likely for a building to be vanquished in 2 to 3 decades time.
Why are we to cater high rent usage, primarily, when there’s a far greater need for a lower-cost ownership, or lower rents, for residents, for student residents, and all lower wage workers.
In an existing inequitable income matrix, capitalistic distribution systems being prevalent throughout the US of A, our building designs allow for alternatives to the status quo, and with the proper blueprint for contemplative planning.
Will the city leadership adopt and implement a comprehensive master plan so such tragic developments as in the case of low density malls become less likely to occur in the future of our towns and cities knowing collectively many options are available our re-purposing of a mall and surrounds?
Empathy for Gaia is necessary. Selfishness need not be present.
A Zoetic Message
Let your spirit soar keeping your body closer to the ground and elevated concurrently. Restrict skyscrapers from destroying our sensitive souls, change zoning ordinances instead. Keep our minds alert for any building schemes that disregard biophilia, for in not doing so we disconnect our complete person from our sustenance found in nature alone. A mall wants to be more than a mall.
Postscript 020222 - This poll suggests a degree of environmental health education is desired to illuminate conservation and preservation principles needed now on Ma Earth.
A poll developed and was taken on subreddit r/deadmalls based on questions arising in this zoetic message.
There were in the four days of the poll taken, over 2,000 votes cast, and of that number of the respondents was less than 10% that wanted to see higher density developed at existing semi dead malls.
More voters preferred the malls just to decompose and decay.
To their credit, the majority of people want to see the malls ,at the very least, be repurposed into a community asset.