Peter Bagge on Malls

I've never enjoyed shopping. Being married to one who does requires me to spend lots of time in shopping malls. I'm familiar with all the arguments against covered malls, but I'm more interestested in finding out what explains their continued popularity, since I assume that the people who frequent malls have good reasons to go there. I don't buy the argument that average people simply don't know better therefore we (the experts) should tell them exactly how they should enjoy themselves while shopping. What many of the mall's critics fail to realize is that malls are evolving all the time, the designs reflecting changes in the way people buy, eat out, play with their children, or simply relax. I think about these things because my job compels me to, as I help on the design of retail spaces and big shopping malls. The kind of places I had come to undertand as a mall is nothing compared to the lavish and increasingly multi-functional megastructures that are on the drawing boards. I urge you to take a look at Peter Bagge's humorous account of malls how they've changed in importance throughout his life.