The Rise and Fall of the Shopping Mall: Dialogues on the Relationship of Commerce and City

Please note: this event has been CANCELLED

Wed 28 February 2018

Mill Lane Lecture Rooms

The shopping mall is a North American invention emerged after the Second World War as a part of the American way of life. In addition to becoming a symbol of an era, shopping malls were also connected to a particular way to shape cities: sparse, peripheral and motorized. For more than 50 years, this typology appeared not only as a symbol of a society but also as a really profitable business which helped them to spread all over the world. Despite their economic success, especially in the last two decades, the emergence of new trends in the opposite direction, led the shopping mall industry to an unprecedented crisis. The seek for more energy efficient cities, the rise of e-commerce, the tiredness about their monotonous landscape, among other themes, are investigated as the probable cause of the phenomena of the dead malls - counted in hundreds in America. From that, one can address some questions as follows: what is the future of shopping malls? Will they survive? What are the new trends in terms of typologies and for the relationship of commerce and cities?

Fernando Garrefa is an Architect (1995). He has an MSc (2002) in history and theory of architecture and a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning (2007) gaining both degrees from The University of São Paulo. Since 2009 he has been an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism and Design of the Federal University of Uberlândia – Brazil, actuating in both Graduation and Post Graduation courses. At the same university, he held the position of Head of the Faculty (2013-2017). His main research subjects deal with the relationship of commerce and the city. On this theme, he has written a book entitled Shopping Centers: de centro de abastecimento a produto de consumo. (Shopping Centers: From supplying centres to product consumption ) in addition to several book chapters, and papers published in journals or conferences proceedings. He has also been working in practice for the last 20 years as a consultant for commerce/real estate developments, urban planning and urban design.

Cost: Free