From Arcade to Strip Mall?

Built in the 1920s, the Grove Arcade is a free standing arcade on the edge of downtown Asheville, NC, which was originally designed to house a skyscraper above it. However, the Depression put a crimp in that plan and it remains standing today with only three stories.Though the arcade is more the predecessor to the mall than the strip mall, contrasting it with the modern strip mall reveals many of the changes retail establishments made after the proliferation of the automobile.

Though the Grove Arcade was built shortly after cars hit the mainstream, it still maintained a pedestrian scale (it's unclear whether the curbside parking is original to the design). Like in a mall, most of the stores in an arcade are on the interior with few exterior entrances. The entrance seen above invites the pedestrian off the street with a massive 2-story arch. A permanent canopy in the foreground, houses an open air market during the day. The arcade is decorated with intricate Tudor elements and the second and third floors contain windows for offices.

The strip mall has no use for the second and third stories. These buildings are designed for only one use: selling stuff. And if there were upper floors they certainly wouldn't be wasted with all those windows. Instead we'd probably see the space utilized with lots of advertising.

But as seen in the example above, some of the first strip malls didn't do the best job of appealing to the passing car. Though cars in the 1950s probably drove by this establishment at a slower pace than they do today, the small cursive lettering of "Briarcliff Village" indicates early strip construction that didn't fully grasp the benefits of LOUD advertising. In addition, signs for the individual businesses are also in small fonts along either the front exterior, or under the overhang, which probably catered to the pedestrian, since its all but invisible from the street. Another element to note: limited parking.Compared to both the arcade and the earlier strip mall this more recently constructed strip mall has an insane amount of parking for its customers...probably more than would ever be used. Though you can still spot awnings, which hearken back to the arcade, this strip is the simplest of all. While the arcade had all kinds of expressive detail, and the early strip mall still attempted a style with its small turrets on top, this strip mall is bare bones. The most important element has become the sign (as detailed by Venturi & Scott Brown) , which is quite large, visible from the street and can be illuminated at night!