Jacqueline Jaramillo

Professor Koning
English 113 B
Feb 23 2013
Coming together at the mall
What has been and always will be true about Design Research is its consideration of
people. The future lies not in ignoring needs, but in broadening our horizons. We need to think
about more than just insights. We need to be collaborators and co-creators not only with the
companies we are designing for, but also the communities and individuals we are researching.
Tara Mullaney. In the above quotation, Mullaney sheds light on the importance of taking into
consideration the needs and wants of the city surrounding the space you are building. While
speaking about such structures, one might think about both the Topanga Mall and the Northridge
Mall as simply entertaining shopping venues in which one goes to purchase food and clothing.
However upon closer examination, each venue is revealed to be more than that, serving as a
place that creates a sense of community as well as a tourist attraction representing the city and its
history.
A shopping mall is a place where people with all different tastes and needs can go shop.
Some American familys like pend family time at shopping malls, because there is things for
everyone in the family. The enormous venues house different types of stores and restaurants.
Most malls like the Northridge Mall are family friendly; they have play areas for kids. Most
cities in The United States have a shopping mall. Shopping malls typically have big Anchor
stores such as Target, Macys and Sears for you to shop for the products the other stores in the
malls did not provide for you. If you are looking for a play area for your kids, the newest fashion
trend or a place to eat you can save time and shop for all of your wants and needs at your nearest
shopping mall.
L.A. County's eighteenth shopping mall first opened July 28, 1970. The 2-level, sixty
million dollar complex was built on a 72 acre plot, 25 miles northwest of the center of the city, in
the northwestern sector of the San Fernando Valley. The original Northridge Fashion Center was
developed in 1971 by David Gladstone. The official owner was is General Growth Properties. It
has 170+ stores and 1.5 million square feet area. Its anchor stores are Macys, JC Penney, Sears
and Pacific Theaters.
The Westfield Topanga Mall first opened in 1964. The developer is May Centers Inc. The
owner is well known Australia-based Westfield operates nine other malls in the Los Angeles
region, including Westfield Shoppingtown Promenade in Woodland Hills, Westfield
Shoppingtown Topanga in Canoga Park and Fashion Square Sherman Oaks (Tong). West Field
Topanga Mall has 279 stores and 5 anchor stores. The area is 1.6 million square feet. Topanga
Mall renovated in 2008 and added 100 new stores. It has a parking lot with 6113 spaces and a
carousel inside.

Both the Northridge Fashion Center and the Westfield Topanga Shoppingtown had some
remodeling done since the Malls first opened. The remodeling cause was different for both
spaces. The Northridge Mall was remodeled because of an earthquake whereas the Topanga
Shoppingtown was remodeled to make the mall bigger and better. Even though the remodeling
of the Northridge Fashion Center served as reconstruction, like the Topanga Fashion Center it
was also made bigger and better.
Northridge Fashion Center suffered massive damages due the 1994 6.7 Northridge
earthquake. The 6.7 earthquake left the mall in shambles (Alexander). Due to the earthquake
most of the stores in the fashion center were closed on Jan. 17, 1994 and opened during the grand
re-opening on Aug 3, 1995. The fashion center was in reconstruction for about 7 months. City
officials estimated that the earthquake caused $131 million in damage to the mall. The
earthquake killed over 60 people through the city. After the earthquake President Bill Clinton
visited the damage done at the Northridge Fashion Center and California State University
Northridge. The president brought great relief to the city by announcing the recovery of both
spaces would be supported financially. The Northridge Fashion Center is fully recovered now
and has no sign of a massive earthquake. The Northridge Fashion Center has been renovated
three times after the earthquake.
The new and improved design of the Topanga Shoppingtown is still admired today by all
of its customers and visitors. The building itself almost doubled adding two anchor stores. The
$215 million Westfield Topanga Mall expansion and renovation project has received a merit
award in the International Council of Shopping Centers' design competition. The project will
now be eligible for the Best of the Best award to be given in May. (Mendoza) The outcome of
the renovation exceeded the cities expectation. Santa Clarita Valley's largest shopping center will
rename the 860,000 square-foot mall a "Westfield Shoppingtown (Tong).
Community built by the new and improved malls
After the earthquake the residents of Northridge came together for its grand post-
earthquake opening. Thousands of people from the communities surrounding Northridge
gathered on top of one of the mall's parking structures. Returning to the mall for the first time
since the quake, Jeanette Belcher said she was grand to see her favorite shopping center back in
operation (Alexander). This shows how the community missed and loves their mall. "The
husbands are back in their places, despondent on the mall benches," says Thomas to the audience
(Alexander). I like this quote because it makes me imagine a husband waiting for his wife
outside a store just contemplating on how is he going to pay for all that she is buying. This ties in
with my theory about the Northridge mall being a place where middle class people can come to
and shop for affordable things. At the Northridge mall there is not a lot of high brand stores, well
not as many as there is in The Westfield Shoppingtown. I think it's worth a celebration," said
Belcher, 31, of Canoga Park, who attended the event with her daughter, two nieces, and her
mother. "All I need now is a little money to spend" (Alexander). Again this helps show this more
family/ community orientated mall has middle class people who come to just hang out to the
mall. Belcher is a perfect example because she went to the even just for the opening and to hand
out with her daughters not to shop.
The Topanga Shoppingtown typically is not a place to just to hang out. If you go to the
Topanga Mall you have some type shopping in mind. People go to do some serious shopping.
Topanga has an interesting design where there is not as many resting areas or benches to sit on to
wait for your wife to shop. During my field research I observed Topanga having more high class
customers. Northridge Mall is a mile away from CSUN and Topanga Mall is 2-3 miles away
from Pierce College so Northridge has college students who typically dont have as much money
to spend.
In conclusion Malls and shopping centers have long served as a gathering place of culture
and historic value of the city in which they are located. This can be observed when reviewing the
destruction of the 1994 earthquake in southern California. The mall served as a landmark of what
can be rebuilt from the ashes of a city plagued by natural disaster. Since he reopening, the mall
has been renovated and provides the services of large Anchor stores, smaller explicit stores, play
areas as well as food. Being a place of such diversity, the Northridge Fashion Center has is a
place that mirrors the values and culture of its city. Along with Malls across the United States,
the Northridge Fashion Center and Topanga Mall have served as cultural centers that reflect the
history of their harboring cities and attract tourism and income.











Work Cited
Alexander, Mary Beth Daily News,Staff Writer. "NORTHRIDGE MALL REOPENS AMID
FANFARE." Daily News: 0. Aug 03 1995. ProQuest. Web. 28 Feb. 2014 .
Mendoza, Lauren Alicia. "Mall merit." Los Angeles Business Journal 15 Dec. 2008: 11. General
OneFile. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.
Sunkes, -. N. "MALLS ARE EVERYWHERE." Daily News: 0. Mar 24 2005. ProQuest. Web. 9
Mar. 2014 .
Tong, Eugene Staff. "VALENCIA MALL GETS NEW NAME WESTFIELD
SHOPPINGTOWN LABEL on TOWN CENTER: SANTA CLARITA Edition." Daily
News, (2005): SC.1. History