Fra shoppingcenter til by : en undersøgelse af det integrerede shoppingcenter 

(English summary below)

RESUMÉ Afhandlingen er en undersøgelse af integrerede shoppingcentre. Den er et studie af, hvorledes tre nyere danske centre i tætte bysituationer, udform-ningsmæssigt og programmatisk, indgår i eksisterende kontekster og skaber nye offentlige rum og fodgængerforbindelser. Gennem analyser af centrene og deres kontekster diskuterer afhandlingen, hvorledes de afspejler væsentlige teoretiske positioner i forhold til forståelsen og produktionen af byen og det offentlige rum. De konkrete analyser muliggør en diskussion af positionernes relevans i den aktuelle byudvikling. Victor Gruen betegnes ofte som shopping mall’ens fader. Hans relevans for arkitekturteorien består blandt andet i, at han søgte at udforme offentlige byrum i den spredte by. Hans teori var, at oplevelsen af tætte urbane situationer, i form af sociale, kulturelle og kommercielle rum, transformerede den besøgende. I diskussionen af integrerede shoppingcentre er hans strategier for revitalisering af degenererede midtbysituationer med shoppingcentret som model særlig relevante. Integrerede shoppingcentre indgår ofte i byfornyelsesstrategier i byer, som har oplevet hensygnende gågademiljøer, og Gruens strategier diskuteres i forhold til en analyse af SlotsArkaderne, der har medvirket til revitalisering af Hillerød midtby, men som også har negative konsekvenser for den umiddelbare kontekst. Jane Jacobs identificerede i 50’erne og 60’erne et byliv, hun mente stod i fare for at gå tabt i den modernistiske rasering af områder i byen. Hendes bog The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961) opstiller en række kritiske faktorer, der tilsammen anviser, hvorledes etableringen af et vitalt byliv kan foregå. Kriterierne benyttes i en analyse og diskussion af Frederiks-berg Centret, der har medvirket til at skabe et nyt, vellykket befolket byområde, uden at Jacobs’ anvisninger dog tilsyneladende er fulgt. Bruuns Galleri i Århus er et eksempel på et større urbant projekt, som er initieret, finansieret og gennemført af private interesser, mens offentlige planmyndigheder, som traditionelt har ansvaret for godt urban design, i varierende grad har responderet på og været involveret i processen. Det er væsentligt at forstå, hvilken agenda de private aktører knyttet til detail-handelen opererer ud fra, samt hvorledes den forholder sig til urban design, der udgør en separat, men delvist overlappende agenda. Kapitlet gennemgår aspekter af detailhandelens urbane agenda og urban design-agendaen, og diskuterer hvorledes Bruuns Galleri kan forstås som et resultat af spillet mellem disse agendaer. I følge Johann Friedrich Geist (1983) var passagen den første inkarnation af det moderne shoppingcenter, og han leverede en typologisk definition af den som bygningsform. Ifølge Jon Jerde var shopping mall’en stedet, hvor et offentligt liv overlevede den moderne amerikanske bys fragmentering, og herved fungerer den som’model’ for organisering af store mennesketunge urbane programmer. Jerde benytter begrebet ’armature’ om organiseringsprincippet i sine store detailhandelsprojekter, og begrebet giver, sammen med den typologiske beskrivelse af passagen, anledning til at diskutere Sony Center i Berlin, der er baseret på shoppingcentret som model, dog uden at indeholde shopping. Det udgør et alternativt offentligt rum, der er helt anderledes konceptualiseret end de omkringliggende offentligt ejede og administrerede byrum. Afhandlingen diskuterer endvidere generelle aspekter knyttet til det integrerede shoppingcenter. Det virker ofte oplevelsesmæssigt frag-menterende i lokale kontekster, og med udgangspunkt i Stephen Graham og Simon Marvins Splintering Urbanism (2001) redegøres der for mekanismerne bag fragmenteringen af den moderne by. Desuden refereres Rob Shields teorier om nye former for sociale, offentlige rum, hvori shoppingcentret potentielt modvirker fragmentering ved at etablere sociale centraliteter. Det integrerede shoppingcenter kan betragtes som urban design og indgår i mange byer i en design- og projektbaseret profilering af midtbyens rum, hvilket er et udslag af interurban konkurrence. I England udarbejdede Urban Task Force hvidbogen Towards an Urban Renaissance (1999), der peger på behovet for at satse på godt urban design som en forudsætning for at kunne modvirke byspredning. Det integrerede shoppingcenter indgår som motor i denne udvikling, men udgør også en vigtig konceptuel model for konstruktionen af attraktive, befolkede sociale offentlige byrum. Afslutningsvis diskuteres det integrerede shoppingcenters rolle i postmoderne byudviklingsprocesser. Forståelsen af denne rolle kan benyttes til at konceptualisere nye systemer af offentlige rum i den samtidige fragmenterede by. Centrene overskrider potentielt den begrænsning, der ligger i deres oprindelige detailhandelsfunktion, og fungerer på langt flere måder. Det integrerede shoppingcenter kan således betragtes som en model for nye sammensatte vitale byområder med klar identitet.

ENGLISH SUMMARY This dissertation is a study of integrated shopping centers. Three new Danish centers in dense urban situations have been analyzed. The way they have been programmed and designed in relation to their context, and the way they contribute to the creation of new pedestrian connections and new public spaces is discussed. The dissertation discusses how the centers reflect important theoretical positions concerning the production of the city and public space. The analysis allows for a discussion of the relevance of these positions in contemporary urban development. Victor Gruen is often called the ’father’ of the shopping mall, and an important contribution to architectural theory relates to his attempts to design public spaces in a dispersed urban situation. His theory was that the experience of dense urban situations in the form of social, cultural and commercial spaces transforms the visitor. In the discussion of integrated shopping centers, his strategies for revitalization of degenerated central urban districts, by applying the shopping center as a model are particularly relevant. Integrated centers often form part of urban renewal strategies in cities that have experienced rundown pedestrian zones. Gruen’s strategies are discussed in relation to an analysis of SlotsArkaderne that contributed to the revitalization of the central district of Hillerød, but also had negative consequences for its immediate surroundings. In the 50s and 60s, Jane Jacobs identified the urban life she feared would be lost in modernist interventions in the city. Her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961) raises a number of critical factors that in combination give directions for the establishment of a vital urban life. These criteria are used in an analysis and discussion of Frederiksberg Centret, that has contributed to the successful creation of a new populated urban district, however, without following Jacobs’ instructions. Bruuns Galleri in Århus is an example of an urban project which is initiated, financed and carried out by private enterprise. Public planning authorities, who traditionally are responsible for good urban design, have been involved in and have responded to the process in different ways. It is important to understand what agendas the private actors in the retail industry operate under and how these relate to urban design that is a separate but partially overlapping agenda. The chapter presents aspects of the urban retail agenda and the urban design agenda, and it discusses how Bruuns Galleri can be understood as a result of the interplay between them. Johann Friedrich Geist (1983) claims that the arcade was the first incarnation of the modern shopping center, and he gives a typological definition of it as a building. According to Jon Jerde, the mall was the place where public life survived the fragmentation of the American city, and it therefore functions as a ‘model’ for the organization of big people-intensive urban programs. Jerde uses the concept ‘armature’ about the organizational principle of his large retail projects. Together with the typological description of the arcade, it gives an opportunity to discuss theSony Center in Berlin, which is based on the shopping center as a model, without actually containing shopping. The center constitutes an alternative public space which is conceptualized in a way that is different from the surrounding publicly owned and administered urban spaces. Further, the dissertation discusses general aspects of the integrated shopping center. One aspect is that these centers contribute to a fragmentation of local contexts. Here, urban fragmentation processes are discussed based on Stephen Graham’s and Simon Marvin’s Splintering urbanism (2001). In addition, Rob Shield’s theories, about new forms of social public spaces are introduced, theories claiming that shopping centers potentially counteract fragmentation by establishing social centralities. The integrated shopping center can be seen as urban design. As a result of inter urban competition they also form an element in the design and project based profiling of central cores in many cities. In England, the Urban Task Force produced the white paper Towards an Urban Renaissance (1999), which emphasized the need for good urban design as a precondition for counteracting urban dispersal. The integrated shopping center acts as a driving force in this development, and it also represents a conceptual model for the construction of attractive, lively social public urban spaces. Finally, the role of the integrated shopping center as an element in postmodern urban development processes is discussed. The understanding of the centers’ role could be used for conceptualizing new systems of public spaces in the contemporary fragmented city. Potentially, the center transcends its original function as a retail outlet and serves a much wider purpose. As such, the integrated shopping centers should be considered as a model for new composite, vital urban districts of distinct identities.