Shopping Mall (Object Lessons)

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. The mall near Mat thew Newton's childhood home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was one of the state's first enclosed shopping malls. Like all malls in their heyday, this one was a climate-controlled pleasuredome where strangers converged. It boasted waterfalls, fish ponds, an indoor ice skating rink larger than Rockefeller Center's, and a monolithic clock tower illuminated year-round beneath a canopy of interconnected skylights. It also became the backdrop for filmmaker George A. Romero's zombie opus Dawn of the Dead . Part memoir and part case study, Shopping Mall examines the modern mythology of the mall and shows that, more than a collection of stores, it is a place of curiosity, ritual, and fantasy. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic. " Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. From a young age, Matthew Newton understood that the shopping mall offered visitors far more than a collection of stores, it was a place of curiosity, ritual, and fantasy. The mall near Newton's childhood home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-the state's first enclosed shopping mall, and the backdrop for filmmaker George A. Romero's zombie opus Dawn of the Dead-was a destination that drew hundreds of strangers together at any given time; a climate-controlled pleasuredome that boasted the first indoor ice skating rink on the East Coast; and a place where waterfalls, fish ponds, and a monolithic clock tower were illuminated year-round beneath a canopy of interconnected skylights. Part memoir and part case study, Shopping Mall examines the modern mythology of the shopping mall-not only for the place it holds in our collective memory, but also for the significant role that this ubiquitous public space has played in our shared cultural history. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic. "-- "Part memoir and part study of modern life, Shopping Mall examines the modern mythology of the shopping mall and the place it holds in our shared cultural history"-- " Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. From a young age, Matthew Newton understood that the shopping mall offered visitors far more than a collection of stores, it was a place of curiosity, ritual, and fantasy. The mall near Newton's childhood home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-the state's first enclosed shopping mall, and the backdrop for filmmaker George A. Romero's zombie opus Dawn of the Dead-was a destination that drew hundreds of strangers together at any given time; a climate-controlled pleasuredome that boasted the first indoor ice skating rink on the East Coast; and a place where waterfalls, fish ponds, and a monolithic clock tower were illuminated year-round beneath a canopy of interconnected skylights. Part memoir and part case study, Shopping Mall examines the modern mythology of the shopping mall-not only for the place it holds in our collective memory, but also for the significant role that this ubiquitous public space has played in our shared cultural history. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic. "-- Provided by publisher "Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. From a young age, Matthew Newton understood that the shopping mall offered visitors far more than a collection of stores, it was a place of curiosity, ritual, and fantasy. The mall near Newton's childhood home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-the state's first enclosed shopping mall, and the backdrop for filmmaker George A. Romero's zombie opus Dawn of the Dead-was a destination that drew hundreds of strangers together at any given time; a climate-controlled pleasuredome that boasted the first indoor ice skating rink on the East Coast; and a place where waterfalls, fish ponds, and a monolithic clock tower were illuminated year-round beneath a canopy of interconnected skylights. Part memoir and part case study, Shopping Mall examines the modern mythology of the shopping mall-not only for the place it holds in our collective memory, but also for the significant role that this ubiquitous public space has played in our shared cultural history. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic."-- Résumé de l'éditeur Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Page Contents Prologue Part One: Childhood 1 Eternal Spring 2 Paradise Unknown 3 Spaces Between 4 Shopping Is a Feeling Part Two: Adolescence 5 Little Boxes 6 White Denim 7 Mall Madness 8 Neon Hallways You are here Before the internet First kiss The mall as ritual 9 Young Love Part Three: Adulthood 10 Homecoming 11 Ghost Malls 12 Utopia Interrupted 13 New Futures Acknowledgments Notes Prologue Chapter 2 Chapter 4 Chapter 7 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 13 Index "Part memoir and part study of modern life, Shopping Mall examines the modern mythology of the shopping mall and the place it holds in our shared cultural history"-- Provided by publisher.