Shopping malls are have a long history of being unattractive here in North America, when seen from the outside they tend to look like giant boxes with acres of parking around them, giant intteruptions in the urban and suburban fabric. Suburban malls are usually built on fringe sights and surrounded by ‘new’ land and appear as a hulking mass up ahead, but a shopping mall doesn’t have to look this way, the acres of parking are a result of zoning requiring extensive parking allowances and cheap land which makes it less expensive to buy the acres then to pay to put the parking underground.
What then if you envision a different kind of mall? What happens when common sense moves the parking inside and the mall is conceived as a land form and a park that is integrated into the urban fabric. The sloping park connects to the street, making it easy for passers-by to enter its groves of trees, clusters of rocks, cliffs, lawn, streams, waterfalls, ponds and outdoor terraces. Beneath the park, a canyon carves a path through specialty retail, entertainment and dining venues.
Then you might get something like Namba Parks in Namba-naka Nichome, Naniwa-ku, Osaka, Japan. Namba parks is a shopping mall in Japan that opened in October of 2003. In the days before sustainability really caught on, and there was little fanfare on the International scene. Namba Parks was the result of a visionary design, in a city that wanted something great and didn’t have real estate to waste on parking spaces. The resulting commercial mall and mixed use residential complex is what a mall should be.
From the Project Page:
When Osaka’s baseball stadium closed its doors, it opened the door to a prime redevelopment opportunity in a new commercial district adjacent to Namba Train Station, the first stop from Kansai Airport. Given the location, owner Nankai Electric Railway asked Jerde to create a gateway that would redefine Osaka’s identity. So Jerde conceived Namba Parks as a large park, a natural intervention in Osaka’s dense and harsh urban condition. Alongside a 30-story tower, the project features a lifestyle commercial center crowned with a rooftop park that crosses multiple blocks while gradually ascending eight levels. In addition to providing a highly visible green component in a city where nature is sparse, the sloping park connects to the street, welcoming passers-by to enjoy its groves of trees, clusters of rocks, cliffs, lawn, streams, waterfalls, ponds and outdoor terraces. Beneath the park, a canyon carves an experiential path through specialty retail, entertainment and dining venues. Namba Parks creates a new natural experience for Osaka that celebrates the interaction of people, culture and recreation.
Built in October 2003, “Jerde Partnership Architects “conceived Namba Parks as a large park, a natural intervention in Osaka’s dense and harsh urban condition. Alongside a 30-story tower, the project features a lifestyle commercial center crowned with a rooftop park that crosses multiple blocks while gradually ascending eight levels. In addition to providing a highly visible green component in a city where nature is sparse, the sloping park connects to the street, welcoming passers-by to enjoy its groves of trees, clusters of rocks, cliffs, lawn, streams, waterfalls, ponds and outdoor terraces.”
Project Statistics
| Site Area | 8.33 acres |
| Total Building Area | 130,000 sq meters |
| Program | Phase 1 |
| 40,000 sq meters Retail/Entertainment | |
| 60,000 sq meters Office | |
| 25,000 sq meters Common space | |
| 2,700 sq meters Cultural | |
| 2.2 Acres Open Space | |
| 1,251 Parking Spaces | |
| Phase II | |
| 75,000 square meters Retail & Entertainment (124 shops, 2,164-seat cinema) | |
| 38,000 square meters Residential | |
| Awards | |
| 2009 ULI Awards for Excellence Asia Pacific Winner | |
| 2004 Good Design Award, Architecture and Environment Design (Japan) | |
| 2005 SADI Grand Award, Retail Traffic Magazine | |
| 2005 SADI Award for New Open-Air Center, Retail Traffic Magazine | |
| 2005 Certificate of Merit, Innovative Design and Construction of a New Project, ICSC | |
| Clients | Nankai Electric Railway Co., Ltd. |
| Obayashi Corporation | |
| Project Architect | Obayashi Corporation |
| Landscape Architects | EDAW, Inc. |
| SPD Collab Inc. | |
| Lighting Designer | Joe Kaplan Architectural Lighting |
| Water Feature | WET Design |
| Environmental | Selbert Perkins Design Collaborative, Inc. |
In the not so distant future, it is predicted that as much as 80% of the world's population will live in urban areas and, by 2050, the population of the world will increase by as many as 3 billion people. Three billion people require a fair bit of food and current farming practices are unlikely to be able to provide the needed supply. Dr Dickson Despommier suggests Vertical Farms.
June 8th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Terrific site, where did you come up with the information in this blog? I’m pleased I found it though, ill be checking back soon to see what other articles you have.