por Jim
How better to judge a nation than by its malls? The souks of yesteryear were popular tourist destinations. So are the malls of today. Argentina does well in that competition. In Mendoza we were earlier treated to a block quartered by an arcade with a stained glass roof that was quite pleasant. But that's quite modest by our neighborhood mall here in central Buenos Aires, which has the requisite glass ceiling and many trendy shops, topped by a culture center and performance space.
We worked it from top to bottom, viewing a Margaret Bourke-White exhibit on the top floor, featuring the iconic pictures, which we had seen before, and blown up proofs from the first issue of Life magazine, which we hadn't and were reminded once again of the journalistic genius of Luce who had the taste to hire such photographers.
We then went down to the bottom floor, where the food court is located, to sample some of the ice cream that Argentina is justly famous for. Here's picture that shows the cultural spaces topping the stores.
This is not our first encounter with a marvelous mall during the course of our travels. Earlier we happed upon the Larcomar Mall in the Miraflores neighborhood of Lima. It has the usual complement of good stores and fast food, punctuated by a sweater store where Leslie made a few purchases that had two Peruvian indian women on the floor weaving with backstrap looms.
An impressive combination, enhanced by the fact that it is invisible from the adjacent busy street.
All passing traffic sees is a beautiful park that overlooks the Pacific. Larcomar is carved into the cliff below the park, along with a massive parking lot that runs under the street and exits via a hotel on the other side of the street.
Both were successful in getting us to spend our money, which is ultimately what the enterprise is all about, in a pleasant environment. But I was struck by the deft combination of commerce and public spaces -- cultural in one instance and green in the other.
How better to judge a nation than by its malls? The souks of yesteryear were popular tourist destinations. So are the malls of today. Argentina does well in that competition. In Mendoza we were earlier treated to a block quartered by an arcade with a stained glass roof that was quite pleasant. But that's quite modest by our neighborhood mall here in central Buenos Aires, which has the requisite glass ceiling and many trendy shops, topped by a culture center and performance space.
We worked it from top to bottom, viewing a Margaret Bourke-White exhibit on the top floor, featuring the iconic pictures, which we had seen before, and blown up proofs from the first issue of Life magazine, which we hadn't and were reminded once again of the journalistic genius of Luce who had the taste to hire such photographers.
We then went down to the bottom floor, where the food court is located, to sample some of the ice cream that Argentina is justly famous for. Here's picture that shows the cultural spaces topping the stores.
This is not our first encounter with a marvelous mall during the course of our travels. Earlier we happed upon the Larcomar Mall in the Miraflores neighborhood of Lima. It has the usual complement of good stores and fast food, punctuated by a sweater store where Leslie made a few purchases that had two Peruvian indian women on the floor weaving with backstrap looms.
An impressive combination, enhanced by the fact that it is invisible from the adjacent busy street.
All passing traffic sees is a beautiful park that overlooks the Pacific. Larcomar is carved into the cliff below the park, along with a massive parking lot that runs under the street and exits via a hotel on the other side of the street.
Both were successful in getting us to spend our money, which is ultimately what the enterprise is all about, in a pleasant environment. But I was struck by the deft combination of commerce and public spaces -- cultural in one instance and green in the other.
This strikes me as what public spaces should be. An artful melding of commerce, architecture and art. The marketplace as a public meeting space that both uplifts and inspires, and keeps commerce rolling.
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