Assignment 6: Grace Lynis

The World of Shopping: "In the Olden Days"

Greenbrier Mall, opened in the Summer of 1965. It the first enclosed mall in Fulton County and the third to open in the state of Georgia.

Early enclosed shopping malls customarily provided one level of mall shopping space. Major name stores were used to anchor the project, and bring to the mall the loyal customer base. There is usually two to three levels of shopping floor space, in the requisite anchor stores.

At Greenbrier, Rich's and JC Penney were the first anchors. Macy's which acquired Rich's is still housed in the original building on the east elevation. At the opposite end of the mall, JC Penney has been replaced by Burlington Coat Factory.

Created to be seen and approached from moving vehicles, this generic landscape exists to accommodate the automobile. The anchor store, Macy's is in the background.

The identity of the Greenbriar Mall has evolved over the last 45 years. Yet ownership of the mall by local residents, remains loyal, despite demographic shifts that have taken place from 1965 to 2011.

Chrome, Florescent Lighting, Glass, Tile, Directory, Map and Legend are a standard and are immediately encountered upon entry in all mall designs.

This shadowy inside view captures the mall approach to Macy's. The columns and skylight above, are designed to visually stimulate and lure the shopper's gaze from the floor of the mall, as they approach the main selling floor of the anchor store.

Positioned throughout the controlled and enclosed public spaces of the mall, The Kiosk is comparable to the street vendor. Similar to street vendors who showcase inside wares for sale on the public streets of international cities, situated in public spaces inside the mall, the kiosk transforms otherwise underused spaces, into commercial islands of human exchange.

Security Segway vehicle communicates a surveillance presence, even in the absence of a live person. In background, the stage is placed under the skylight, and transforms the Mall into a public space where lived experiences are performed and observed. Seen as an everyday space, the mall fulfills its commercial objectives as a marketplace and solidifies community ownership as the potential host to local community events.

Why worry about the real world, when you can escape to the Mall?

This Chick-fil-A restaurant opened here in 1967. This was the very first walk-in Chick-fil-A establishment and one of the first front counter walk-up style, mall restaurant designs. Popular, convenient and complimentary to the shopping experience, this design approach by the end of the following decade would introduce food court programming into mall designs, that are now frequently seen in malls everywhere.