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[he Galleria. Weslhoimei Boulevard, circa 19/1, HAiulh. Oboto + Kassnbuum, architects, with Neuham and Tovlor. Below: Ihe lour stages Galleria 111971), Galleria II (19/7), Gollcmi III (1994). and Gallena IV (2007).

STREETLEVEl ram. RINK LEVEL

CITY UNDER GLASS

The Galleria offers consumers a look at nearly everything, including its own version of sprawl

BY BRUCE C. W E B B IN MANY WAYS, MODERN HOUSTON and the Galleria grew up together. It was in 1969 that then-tyro developer Gerald D. Mines began to reinvent the shopping center as a street under glass (with apologies to the magnificent |9 l h century Galleria Vittorio Kmanuele in Mil.mi. Paired with the Harris County Domed Stadium built in 1965, another exem- plar of the architecture ol technical defiance, the Galleria helped make Houston the air conditioning capital of the world, a city with self-satisfied buildings, closed systems of the well-tempered environment thai were suitable for anywhere and perfect lur inhospi- table climates, be they along the Inner Loop or in the vacuum of outer space. It was the age of the astronauts—Houston was transformed overnight into Space City with the arrival of the manned space program—but it was the builders and developers and their projects who were becoming local legends. CITE 65 : WINTER 2005 21

Out of this Zeitgeist, developer bars, restaurants, even a b o w l i n g alley different precincts w i t h different charac- Stretched as it was, the Galleria Kenneth Schnirzcr began to build (long gone) and lour movie theaters. In teristics, much like the properties on a quickly lost some of the simple elegance Greenway Plaza, a 127-acre master a private c l u b there were exercise r o o m s , Monopoly board. You can get a feel for that was present in the original diagram. planned business and residential devel- a s w i m m i n g p o o l , and r o o f t o p tennis how this zoning w o r k s by l o o k i n g at the In particular, the w a y the mall and park- opment that resembled Greater L o n d o n courts. There was also a jogging track on stratified interior elevation of Galleria I. ing garage in the original paralleled Council developments of the same the r o o f that circumnavigated the barrel The g r o u n d floor, a k i n d of proletarian one another, connected b\ bridges that period. A n d George R. B r o w n announced skylight, w h i c h allowed runners to look food court collection, reads like a fast spanned across rhe delivery service circuit plans for the infamous Texas Eastern down on the skating r i nk while shoppers food hall of fame: Sbarro Italian Buffet, located in the slot between, was admirably Transmission C o m p a n y H o u s t o n Center watched them f r o m below. In .1 cily lack McDonalds, Taco Bell, R o m a n Delight, neat. It was a marvelous cross section, project, an urban design proposal to turn ing in dramatic natural features or exten- Ninfa's, Sonic. R i d i n g above on the p i a n o with a near perfect systems design. But as T.I blocks d o w n t o w n east of M a i n Street sive, splendid, intact historic districts to noble are places w i t h more elan, such the Galleria grew, p a r k i n g became more into a vast, elevated mall that w o u l d have show off to visitors, the Galleria and the as T o u m e a u and Versace. Finally, in the problematic; garages had to be folded in hovered over the layer of carbon m o n o x - Dome served as proxies. third floor " a t t i c " : Eddie Bauer and the willy-nilly. Today there are some 13,900 ide issuing I r o m vehicles [rapped beneath Architect Victor G r u e n , w h o designed Original Levi Stores. parking spaces in seven different garages, o n the city's street g r i d . Southgate Center near Minneapoli s in The socio-economic milieu of the and getting lost, or rather losing one's Times change and yesterday's attrac- 1956 for the D a y t o n H u d s o n C o m p a n y , Galleria has little in c o m m o n w i t h the car in the vast p a r k i n g bowels, is a c o m - tions ,ne mcrcb targets f<>i todaj 's com- is generally credited w i t h inventing the more middle-bro w malls that have p r o - mon experience. petitors. In his entry on the Galleria in the first totally enclosed and temperature liferated in America's suburbs. It's not Galleria IV, the latest a d d i t i o n Houston Architectural iiuide, historian controlled modern in.ill, I In- W J \ ( i i e u n exacdy a slice of Houston's demograph- designed by Atlanta architects t a m p e r Stephen Fox credits its influence as "a Carry, opened in 2 0 0 2 , adds to the archi- typological development of n a t i o n a l , tectural r a m b l i n g . Projecting south f r o m even international, consequence," bur Mall space is controlled space, Galleria 11, this a d d i t i o n spans West concludes by w o n d e r i n g " w h e t h e r it Alabama w i t h a 125-foot-long by 20(1 will outlive the set of circumstances that compressed so there are almost no gaps looi wide second level span. I ined v\ ith brought it into being and survive to attain shops, it is more mall than bridge-like. To [he historic distinction that w i l l eventu- where the mind can wander off. assemble the land necessary for the proj- ally accrue to i t . " Houston's attitudes are ect, the plan shifted H i l d a g o Street 2 7 5 ruthlessly D a r w i n i a n and easily distracted, feet to the south. A n o t h er real estate prob- .iiul survival otten depends u p on renew- saw it, the mall was the m o d e r n successor ics; it's m o r e Rodeo D r i ve than M a i n lem was internal: Since the Westin Galleria al—not just maintenance and restoration, ro traditional social spaces. It was a place, Street. The original 6 0 0 , 0 0 0 square foot I lotel was in the w a y of expansion plans, but a real magnification of the spectacle. he w r o t e , " f o r participation in modern Galleria, designed by 1 lellniiuli , t l b . u a + one floor of the hotel was dismantled and And spectacle has come to mean community life that the Greek A g o r a , the Kassabaum w i t h local architects Ncuhaus its functions redistributed, w i t h the lobby super malls like the M a l l ot America in medieval market place and o u r o w n t o w n and T a y l o r and opened in 1 9 7 1 , was and the b a l l r o o m located on opposite sides Minneapolis (configured Iik<- .1 Parchcsi squares provided in the past." A l o n g the anchored by N i e m a n M a r c u s at one end of the public concourse. Houston's first board, w i t h a C a m p Snoopy amusement way, Walt Disney, w i t h his C a l i f o r n i a and open at the other. Over the interven- Nordstrom's department store a n d local park at the center) or the truly colos- theme p a r k, had shown h o w you could ing is years the Galleria has g r o w n in standby, Foley's, anchor rhe a d d i t i o n , the sal West E d m o n t o n M a l l in E d m o n t o n , chop and channel many of the more four distinct segments. latter located on .1 spur. Because West Canada, w i t h its giant water park and compelling features of t o w ns and cities Alabama passes t h r o u g h , it splits the mall indoor beach and wave machine—the sub while leaving out the bad stuff, and create Growing Pains into t w o segments on the g r o u n d level, arctic equivalent to puttin g an ice-skating America's n u m b er one tourist attraction with the bridge p r o v i d i n g circumstance for rink under glass canopy in H o u s t o n , As in the process. The mall picked up where Galleria I is classically modern and cen- a large, c o m m o d i o u s porre cochere for the .1 poini of comparison , Edmonton's mall Disney left off, w i t h the idea that what tered by the ice r i n k ; the interior architec- hotel above. contains 800 stores and I 10 eating estab- people wanted was a neater, tidier, and ture is almost invisible, deflecting atten- The main axis of Galleria IV is formed lishments, along w i t h eight theme park more convenient d o w n t o w n , a purified tion to the sky, the ice r i n k , the shops, the into a gentle interior b o w that affords a attractions, roller coaster, g a m b l i n g casi- commercial precinct ot super abundance promenade, anything but itself. In 1977 shallow p a n o r a m a view of all the shops no, ice rink (where the N H L E d m o n t o n that matched the suburbs, a place where HOK w i t h SI M o r r i s Associates added in a single glance a n d relieves some of the Oilers often practice), a q u a r i u m , a gun shopping and tun w o u l d become meta- Galleria I I , a 6 5 0 , 0 0 0 square foot w i n g tedium of the shotgun arrangement f o u n d shop, museum, and live a m m o shoot- phors for one another. Part of m a k i n g this 1l1.1t is aligned cross a x i a l h to the original in most malls. The concourse is brightly ing range. As might be expected. West happen is h o w the mall promotes a feeling and anchored at the intersection by a 12- day-lit by a r i b b o n of clerestory w i n d o w s 1 d m o n t o n M a l l also holds the Guinness o f security w i t h its enforced behavioral story sky-lit space surrounded by balco- and there is a neatly articulated suspended record f o r having the w o r l d ' s largest park- limits, a k i n d of in loco parentis even for nied office towers that look d o w n on the soffit. A water feature designed by Wet ing lot. C o m p a r e d to such festival excess- adults, symbolized by the mall cops w h o promenade. W i t h six glass elevator shafts I lesign, whose oeuvre includes the I nun es, the understated architecture and high- tor a year or more have been ostenta- rising t h r o u g h the 180 toot high space, it tains for the Bellagio H o t e l and Casino in style products on display at the Galleria tiously p a t r o l l i n g on Segways and l o o k i n g is .1 vertical counterpoint to the emphatic Las Vegas, marks rhe intersection of the make it seem like rhe U f f i z i . like bionic troopers f r o m the future. horizontally of the m a l l . Galleria II Foley's w i n g w i t h the p r i m a r y concourse. \ l ill space is ci unrolled spate, 1 (im- .iU eluded i second hotel, tin West in Described as a c o m p u t e r controlle d water Everything Under One Roof pressed so there are almost 1111 gaps where Galleria. Galleria III (Fitzgerald and column falling 50 feet in choreographed the m i n d can wander off. A successlul Partners), completed in 1986, somewhat patterns f r o m a water chandelier, it What does it mean w h e n a city's genius mall like the Galleria exercises nearly awkwardly spliced on another 3 0 0 , 0 0 0 nonetheless looks tor all the w o r l d like a loci revolves a r o u n d artificial biotopes? absolute c o n t r o l over the stores that are square feet w i t h Macy's as the anchor. mechanical udder. Just as the A s t r o d o m e wasn't like any us tenants. The stores pay rent and over- Using Saks Fifth Avenue department In 1999/2000, $25 m i l l i o n was poured other s t a d i u m , the Galleria, as Gerald age charges (a percentage of profits) for store as a giant en-suite connection gave into a remodeling project to give the 1 lines said, wasn't just another m a l l . In the benefit of being in the m a l l . Except, Galleria III a back lot feeling. (It is also Houston Galleria a fresh l o o k . Certain the first place, under a transparent glass that is, tor the magnet department stores, possible to reach Macy's f r o m Galleria II things th.11 once connoted elegance, like canopy in the blistering Texas sun, it fea- which usually enjoy a sweeter deal. by a shortcut o u t d o o r promenade along the carpeted mall floors, had become tured as its central spine a skating n i i k . What the mall is l o o k i n g tor is a certain the edge of the parking garage, a m o o d - passe, The floors were repaved w i t h Unusual tor a mall at that time, it was coherence, a sense that the mix of stores breaking breath ot non-commercia l real- imported marble tiles. The original picker three stories tall. A n d rather than being a belong together, that they have similar ity that has become a smokers' haven.) railings that partially obscured visual con- line of shops only, it opened w i t h a m i x characteristics and act in harmony. In a Galleria III is l o w key, w i t h o u t the spec- nections between levels were replaced h\ ot tenants that included hotels, offices, large mall like the Galleria, there may be tacle qualify of its predecessors. glass panels, creating a more open feeling. 22 CITE 65 ! WINTER 2 0 0 5

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A l a r g e g l a s s e l e v a t o r w a s a d d e d n e a r t h e foot expansion, it tops out at 2.4 million east e n d o l t h e s k a t i n g r i n k . N e w , m o r e square feet, the fifth largest mall in the comfortable furniture was also installed. United States. But the retail business is fickle, and department stores have had a The Art of the Deal difficult time in recent years. Competition of the sort that killed The recent history of the Galleria is a Town and Country Shopping Outer mind-boggling litany of mega-million- to feed the revival and enlarging of dollar deals. Mines sold off the Houston Memorial Gity Mall is the wind that Galleria in 1999 to Urban Shopping shakes the stability of real estate invest- Centers and partner Walton Street Capital ments. Dying malls have become a for around $525 million. (The Dallas category of urban phenomena with a Galleria sibling developed by I lines in dedicated web sire (deadmall.com) con- 19H2 was sold at the same time to UBS taining obits on malls that are empty or Realty Investors, I part of the Swiss on the verge of becoming so. In 200.1 Rank.) From there I lonstoii Cialleria Lord and Taylor, one of the anchors of became part of a package acquired by Galleria II, announced that it would close Rodamco, a Netherlands-based com- all three of its Houston stores, creating pany that paid more than Si billion for a big-box vacancy. And cutting closer to Top, left. The closstcolly modem Gallena I ofleis ne skating under llie blistering Texas sua. the acquisition in 2000. Following the home, Macy's this year acquired Foley's Top, right: Gallena lis elevaloi shafts aie a weitical breakup of Rodamco in 2002, Simon in a merger with the Federated-May tounlcrpoiut to Hie mull's emphatic hoiuonlalily. Above: Between Galleria I and lis porting grange, Property Group, a giant in the shopping Company. Macy's now plans to put its trucks deliver lite elements ol high style. mall business with nearly one third of the name on the new Foley's store in Cialleria Left: Gallerio I's rooftop ioggiug trad circumnavigates largest malls in America (those with more IV, abandoning its present location and the boriel skylight, allowing joggers to wolili shoppers land vice verso) than $250 million in annual retail sales), leaving it empty. Replacing these two purchased the Galleria along with nine anchors is unlikely, giving the Simon other Radamco commercial properties. Company the problem of how to find Despite all this, the Cialleria today is more new, compatible uses for these spaces. than healthy; with its 700,000-squarc- Some of the ideas being discussed include CITE 65 : WINTER 2005 23

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clusters of upscale restaurants, children's social activity, the aimless territory of the \\ ill c\ entualb e\ olve into a place that play spaces, more shops, and even apart- "drift." Hut the model was equally well is mure gracious and more traditionally ments or condominiums. suited to the consumer city. urban. Plans for expanding METRORail Mega-malls and modern regional air- include an east-west line tying the Galleria iTii.it i l i j Second City ports and other buildings ol theii ilk .in to the north-south downtown-to-Reliatit of such size and complexity that they con- Park line. Since MF.TRO riders arrive as As the Galleria grows and changes, stitute a special category of places where walkers, there is a possibility that Uptown it reveals its kinship with the megas* the canons of architectural judgment will need to become more pedestrian- tmctures that fascinated architects no longer apply. (Curiously the Galleria accommodating than it is today. like Constant Nieuwenhuys and the still has a single street address, 5015 But for today the Galleria remains a Situationists in the 1960s. During thai Wcstheimer, even though it stretches over great luxury ship rhat never leaves port. decade architects such as Yana Friedman more than a half-mile and has multiple h is possible to come aboard and wander explored megastructurcs as strategies for entrances.) At some point they pass the like a flauneur, gazing, analyzing, and get- building efficient modern urban develop- tipping point of architecture and become ting aesthetic enjoyment in this opulent ments. But for the Situationists the allure mega-construction, no longer understood sensornim. You can shop; ice skate; eat was the potential the megastructure had in terms ol a single conceptual organiza- at any number ol restaurants; sneak into % for labyrinthine constructions, places for tion but rather many different ones crash- someone's wedding reception, prom, or wandering. In Constant's New Babylon ing together like dropped jaekstraws. bar mitzvah; swim and play tennis; watch plan tor the I lague, city struct lire was Buildings like this are not quite urban people; treat the place like a hands-on lop, left: low-key Galleno III lacks the imagined as a continuous constructed design either. They are more likely to museum of desires; and retire to your own spectacle quality ol its predecessor. Tap, right: Golleriii IV totms a gentle minimi network spreading across the urban and become problems (oi urban design since state room in one of rwo hotels. Marx tuive and greets slioppais with a '"water country landscape like an internet dia- they defy the scale and pattern of urban was not quite right when he called reli- chandelier by Wet Desiga, lac Above: Giillenu Vittoiio f manuele, Milm, gram. It's as though the Galleria were to order. Indeed the mall didn't grow out of gion the opiate ol the masses. In modern Giuseppe Meogoai, atttiilect, 1877, wns launch spokes in every direction; grafted the city bin rather out ol a desire to sup- America, it's shopping. Places such as the reportedly aa insphalioa lot Houston's version onto the city it might zig-zag to Katy plant it with a new order that was geared Galleria, with a whiff ol opulence hover- or to Galveston. For Constant, New to the realities of the automobile. It's hard ing over everything, where what you want Babylon was a post-capitalist critique of io predict it Uptown and the Galleria that is more important than what you need, the city; the corridors of New Babylon dominates u is the Lis! "I something onc< have become the markers of a city's aspi- were to be free-zones ol artistic and new or merely a stage in a process that rations and prominence. •