THE GRUEN TRANSFER / TALENE MONTGOMERY AND

MICHAEL SCHISSEL

Shortly after World War II, an Austrian emigre by the name of Victor Gruen bestowed the mall upon America. Victor's lofty intention: to carve out civic space in the dehumanized, anti-urban landscape of the automobile. He preached "The Mall" as a way to create new urban centers, and revitalize decaying ones, frankensteining the European "city center" into his new American context.

Victor later regretted his monster, believing it strayed from his initial intent. Unfortunately, this very "losing track of intent" became his enduring legacy. In a phenomenon known as The Gruen Transfer identity and desire are suppressed (if not altogether forgotten), and replaced by new identities, new desires reified through impulse purchases.

The mall metastasized into the de facto space of public interaction in late 20th century America, a residual experience of the grand civic space Gruen touted. The private status of the mall signalled “safety” to concerned parents and the geriatric set, isolated by racial and class segregation. This mostly suburban population had grown fearful of a public realm perceived to have devolved into violence. Community groups, social clubs, special events, protests and acts of civil disobedience moved into the mall as well, in tenuous coexistence with impulse redirection and controlled access. In the space of the mall the unpredictability of the city is reproduced as tame simulacra in air-conditioned promenades, under glittering glass canopies, and trees replaced semi-annually.