In my sketches, I sought to portray and accentuate the contrasts between Copley Place, the Prudential Center, and Newbury Street in terms of their roles as public spaces. I chose to create a schematic map of Copley Place to emphasize its claustrophobic feel. I showed how the mall’s only entrances are at its corners, and how it consists essentially of a long, snaking walkway. As I entered the mall at Dartmouth and Stuart Street and walked through, I was struck by Copley Place’s closed atmosphere, underscored by its dark tile floors, elevation changes (the effect of which is that the path is not revealed until you continue to follow it) and relatively low foam ceilings. There is a central atrium where more light comes in, but this plaza is deserted except for a waterfall, and doesn’t serve as a central gathering place. I color-coded the different areas of the mall on my map. I crossed the skybridge to the Prudential Center, which featured glass ceilings (allowing sunlight in), clear signage, and light-colored tile flooring that provided a warmer feeling. The centralized plaza where each shopping arcade converges has kiosks, seating, and is more bustling. And while Prudential Center represents a more cohesive and orderly public space than Copley Place, both pale in comparison to Newbury Street. In my sketch, I depicted the wide sidewalks, orderly pedestrian traffic flow, and store patios that make Newbury an effective commercial and public space. I attempted to capture the street’s signature brick storefronts, wrought-iron fences, and bay windows. I shaded the brick-covered store patios in red to contrast them with the sidewalk on which pedestrians could pass by. Finally, I highlighted the street lamps and trees that further enhance Newbury’s friendliness to pedestrians. Compared to the discrete Copley Place and Prudential Center malls, Newbury is open, with pedestrians free to enter at any block and navigate freely from block to block, and from the Commonwealth Ave promenade past Newbury to Copley Square on the other side.
Although Newbury Street and Copley Center/Prudential Mall are very different shopping settings, they surprisingly share very similar characteristics. Copley Center and the Prudential Mall are indoor shopping malls with an emphasis on open space and natural lighting, almost imitating an outdoor shopping experience, like at Newbury Street. Shoppers enter Copley Place through either glass skybridges or a glass-covered entryway, which let in natural light, while still sheltering shoppers from the elements. The main arcade is open to the levels above, making it feel big and open. At the very center, a multistory glass atrium with a waterfall allows shoppers to sit on the centrally located benches and enjoy sunlight. Even the smaller, non-open arcades have high ceilings, wide walkways, and bright marble floors. The openness of the arcade seems to be effective as it attracted many pedestrians and was a popular place for convening (especially under the atrium). The design of the mall also has only two main entrances, “forcing” consumers to walk through the entire mall before they can exit. My sketch is a basic floorplan of the mall that shows the design elements of the walkways that make them feel open and allow in light. Although a completely different setting, Newbury Street has striking similarities to the two malls. The street also has very wide sidewalks and light, one-way traffic; it invites pedestrians to walk on it, even if they aren’t shopping. Most of the buildings have multistory bay windows displaying the products and drawing buyers into the stores. Also, the end of the street is the Public Garden, which attracts lots of tourists and park-goers to casually shop on Newbury. Unlike the mall, though, shoppers can “exit” the shopping center at any point by sampling turning off the street at any intersection. My sketch shows the inviting bay windows of the buildings and the wide sidewalks that people can easily walk on.
The primary difference I noticed between the indoor mall organization and the design of Newberry Street was the manner in which merchandise was featured from the windows. Throughout the malls, storefront displays appeared in windows that were much larger than human beings. Each store was a microcosmic world, featuring fabrics, accessories, and atmospheres unique to that brand. Looking through an indoor mall vendor's window, one rarely saw more than one object type (e.g. handbags OR dresses OR watches). When a store had shut down, rather than put up a “CLOSED” sign, the mall painted the windows black or built a box around the space so that it became invisible. More than anything, the indoor mall policed its visual output. In contrast, Newberry Street emphasized an unplanned and casual atmosphere. Storefronts often consisted of small windows on the basement floor; however, one could also find large display cases for the high-end stores. Musicians in strange clothes played for money on the sidewalk. More people were walking their dogs. Because a street relies on city police rather than privately contracted security companies, there was less of a sense that someone could be out of place—though at neither location was anything like a formal dress code enforced. Copley Place succeeds as a suburban shopping area in an urban space by duplicating the suburban mall but only selling spaces to high-end vendors. It’s a chique mall, a mall with all the amenities that urban concentrations of resources can afford. They are even putting in a special food court dedicated to Italian food only will be run by a famous chef. Newberry Street, conversely, emphasizes the city layout. Boston brick is everywhere, and interspersed between shops are the occasional homes and schools. Even with often similar stores, these two shopping areas manage to not put each other out of business by maintaining distinct vibes.
The Prudential Center: Spatial Consumerism I must admit that I was struck by how similar everything was in the Prudential Center/Copley Place. I understand that shopping malls are meant to be a cohesive conglomerate of boutiques, but, when walking around, I could not believe that the ceilings, walls, shop monikers, and even the shops themselves mimicked each other. The color scheme of these individual features was very limited and included beige wood features, crème-colored walls, and white and black store fronts and details. Even the wall sconces and light fixtures were the same colors. I did notice that the stores themselves had white fluorescent lighting, but the mall’s public spaces emitted a soft yellow light from what seemed to be incandescent lightbulbs. This intrigued me and aged the space for me substantially. It also made the space a bit warmer than the harsh lighting inside of the stores. The elevation of the store remained surprisingly constant other than when escalators and elevators were inserted for traveling to other levels. Glass was a major part of the program’s design which makes sense since stores want patrons to see their products. The outside of the building itself also utilized this “reveal” effect. You can see some of the stores and customers from across the street thanks to having a substantial part of the building consist of glass. Harsh lines and geometric patterns both on the outside of the building and within create sharp contrasts that add to the distinct separation of each store and individual departments. I observed people talking, walking, sitting on benches, eating, and, surprisingly, very few people were holding shopping bags. If anything, I was surprised to see how many people just seemed to be walking through the mall for fun. In terms of security, there were guards present near all of the entrances and even inside a few stores (four of them questioned me about what I was doing with a sketchbook). The walkways were relatively spacious and high ceilings gave the illusion of even more open spaces. I did not feel like anyone was particularly excluded by the building’s design, but, if physically handicapped, some of the stores were more accommodating than others in terms of entrance and aisle width. There was only one major meeting space which was similar to an indoor courtyard. The space reminded me of the gardens we have been discussing in class, but the fake places and placid water feature felt out of place. Lastly, I was really intrigued by how carefully planned out the stores were. For every men’s clothing store, there was a women’s clothing store either next door or across the aisle. Every watch shop was located next to another accessory shop or jewelry shop, and even shoe shops were placed next to one another. Newbury Street: Open Air and Fresh Perspective Newbury Street is cluttered with shops and restaurants which all have massive monikers. Some were lit up, others had bright, painted letters, and anyone can see from meters away that the street possesses many stores to explore. On the street, I also saw lots of standing easels that had bright text that read “SALE!” Many of the buildings were duplexes with two shops that were literally stacked up on one another. I was very surprised by the contrast between Newbury Street’s setup versus the Prudential Center’s layout. Unlike the carefully planned out store schemes of the Center, Newbury Street’s shops were not really separated by the programs they housed. I saw a sportswear store ironically placed above an ice cream parlor, a used clothing store rested beneath a designer suit shop, and many other contrasting company tenants were around where space was available. I will say that the straight path of the street is actually really conveynient for consumers to see many stores at once. Unlike the Prudential Center, people can find all of the stores on one straight street which is wonderful. However, the street does remain different from the hallways of the shopping mall because it is separated by a busy street which makes it hard for people to cross, except at intersections, and so some of the stores are a bit more difficult to reach. The entrances and exits of the shops consist of two design schemes. The upper level shops possess large stone steps and rather ornate doorways (that preserve the architecture of the area). The lower-level shops have cobblestone entrances that are obviously separate from the smooth sidewalk. Smaller steps leading down to the store’s doors are also present. Unlike the mall, there are no wheelchair accessible entrances to any of the shops which is discouraging. As mentioned above, the shops use easels with sales taglines and large monikers that mimic the shopping mall storefronts. I will say that the stores seem much more independent because they are in separate buildings on a metropolitan street rather than all squeezed inside of one large building. Personally, the presence of real trees and simply designed lampposts also made the atmosphere more welcoming to me as a consumer, and I really appreciated the openness of the street. I did not feel crowded in that open space but felt a little crowded inside of the mall.
To sketch Copley Place/Prudential Center Malls and Newbury St., I first stopped by Newbury St. since it was earlier in the morning and the shops at the mall were not open yet. At Newbury St., it was extremely easy to navigate to, just one block away from the Copley T Stop. The shops along Newbury St were renting out of larger buildings, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floor of which were being used for residences or offices and were rather nondescript. However, the street level and basement level were much more aesthetic, with pretty shop windows, outdoor tables and seating, and the promise of finding something unique and wonderful. The modern glass storefronts were contrasted with the old brick buildings and the narrow one-way street, which at 8am was already left with no free parking spots. Parking meters, bike racks, and wide sidewalks allowed the normal heavy foot traffic during the busy times to influx into this elongated shopping area. Planters separated sidewalks from store fronts, basements were finished and sometimes housed fancy restaurants, and trash cans lined the streets. There were signs for sales, for real estate properties, for streets, and for city events, all to attract customers to individual stores, which seemed to be competing with one another for your attention. Although filled with its fair share of luxury stores, Newbury St. still seemed grounded as it had to face traffic and parking issues, inconsistent weather, city dwellers by the masses, and the unpredictable inevitability of change as stores would pop up or go out of business. However, when I walked to Copley Place, the busy yet mundane daily car traffic of the streets gave way to an overload of consumerism as I entered the glass doors through the handicapped non-revolving entrance (which had been propped open). It was much more modern, and far more self-contained, as if you had stepped into a glass capsule. Inviting at first due to the chilly air outside, I soon realized it all felt too perfectly controlled. Centralized store directories coordinated with signs everywhere to direct shoppers. Though necessary and convenient, they were all directed towards making it easier and more enjoyable to spend your money. Colors, logos, marble, gold trim, and luxury abounded at Copley Place. Through the skybridge, you could see an advertisement for Harvard Summer School while peering down at the traffic of the city and the honking. Then you could look up to see the other skyscrapers, impenetrable to the gaze with their reflective glass exteriors (to be fair, I am a fan of the modern glass aesthetic in large part, but it was odd and counterintuitive to be in one glass building looking out the crystal clear windows and unable to visually enter another skyscraper made of the same material). Prudential Center was similar, although slightly geared towards the middle class consumer as opposed to the luxury consumer. Advertisements were everywhere, marked exits were through department stores, benches provided some minimal seating in the center aisles, and it was easy to get lost in the maze of stores. I had a far harder time navigating my way around the mall trying to sketch. Linearity was broken. As for security, I was stopped and turned away at the 3rd floor of Copley Place, the boundary between shops and businesses. I was also questioned by a security guard as I stopped to write in a notebook and take pictures of some store fronts. Yet at Newbury St., I felt free to roam as I pleased, finding a welcoming city neighborhood as opposed to a patronizing conglomerate mall. Interestingly enough, I had never been so opposed to indoor shopping malls, and their design and implementation, until I was forced to take notice of everything through sketching. I will praise their convenience and centrality, but would much rather stroll along a street with charm and character.
At all three of these commercial spaces, you can see people walking, talking, sipping drinks, sitting on benches, and browsing their phones. The Copley Place and Prudential Center malls, being indoors, both produce a feeling of “entering” as you step inside, aided by their elevation; entrances and exits in both malls are marked by escalators taking you to a higher floor. Signs hang from the ceilings, directing you to other parts of the mall. Newbury Street, in contrast, has no such ceilings or clear demarcations along its length, being outdoors. It distinguishes itself as a commercial space largely by the sheer amount and density of stores across such a long, straight stretch, with hardly any space between them. Yet rather than blending into the walls as stores do in the malls, the stores literally bulge out from the sidewalk, inviting customer attention. There were fewer benches on Newbury Street than in the shopping malls, which I found a bit surprising, since one might think that being outside would mean wanting more places to sit (I know I did, walking along such a long street). Like the shopping malls, Newbury Street is located next to several T stations, making it easy for customers to get there. The street is also located close to a park and common municipal buildings, including a library and a church, nestling it relatively seamlessly into the public sphere of the city. You can tell that you have walked into a “special” street mostly by the format of the street: the lack of big roads cutting perpendicular to it and, again, the crowding of stores. I also found it worth noting that there were differences between the two shopping malls; Copley Place had a golden coloring and a more plush vibe, with marble designs on the floors, hexagonal floors and ceilings, and a central plaza complete with a miniature pond and grassy lawn. In contrast, the Prudential Center mall felt more similar to Newbury Street than the Copley Place mall, with its long, straight, rectangular walkways and the greater amount of natural light let in through the ceiling windows. The inside of the mall felt more like a street, complete with plants lining the hallways that called to mind the abundance of trees on Newbury Street. It made me think that even while Newbury Street is an “outdoor mall,” malls are perhaps emulating “indoor streets.”
I am confident I know the purpose of Newbury St as of today: it is a shopping district, targeted toward affluent people. But it was not its only use historically—I walked by the old American Academy of Arts and Sciences building dedicated to Harvard’s own Louis Agassiz, now populated by a Gucci or a Victoria’s Secret. It is a street became commercial, an old street subsumed by shops that now reside within its shell of old Back Bay walk-ups, the new neighbors, say. And they are diverse, as well: you have the usual restaurant and food vendors to break up the shops (like a mall should), but also massage parlors, groomers—even pet shops and art galleries and a hardware store, all tailored to the Back Bay resident. What sets it apart from Faneuil Hall (another outdoor mall) and the Pru/Copley Plaza is that it does not pretend to be historical, despite incorporating historical buildings and businesses into its layout. Nor is it confusing in its design (more on that in a second). It is presented to one as a mall for malls’ sake, not as businesses brought in to break up the environment. It feels organic, in a word, like it developed naturally, though that may not necessarily be the case (depending on how you define “naturally”). Though it could improve: there were few, if any, seats around. Plenty of street parking, but why not have more than just the Shake Shack with tables and chairs and umbrellas for customers on a hot day? What about all the schools and churches and non-commercial buildings around: how do they fit in? What implications do these have: is this supposed to be a node, say, a central thoroughfare? I’m not so sure about that. Regardless, Newbury St. feels like it fits with that section of Boston, which is more commercial in character. It feels like a piece of the puzzle. The Pru, conversely, feels like a micro- puzzle itself: I would almost say it is its own little town, encased in glass and steel and marble and stone. There are shops like a mall, sure; little kiosks and carts and tour stations and benches and even a park. But it has its own grocery store, as well: there’s a Shaw’s out near the Mariott; there’s also a chapel complete with masses, and businesses and a gym somewhere and a park at the center of the shopping area and the hotel itself. The Pru is not an extension of the city environment but a microcosm, a miniature city within itself. And that idea is magnified to a grand scale, almost like a cathedral to the city with its giant roofs and long Roman-style hallways complete with gorgeous views of the Microsoft Store at one end and Dunkin’ on the other and grand staircases and escalators that raise you to the heights of the inside realm. But I am not sure what its purpose is, really. Is it a mall first? Then why businesses and a church? A church!1 Is it a new, much taller version of the company town, replete with everything a good employee would need? There where is the housing, or (more importantly) the parking? And why the luxury brands at every turn? This is what confuses me about the Pru area: how am I supposed to think of this place? How does it envision itself serving both the consumer and the Bostonian? Because it’s not an public space: it is a private tower, complete with security guards and no homeless people or vagrants. I am yet to understand how the Pru fits within its urban context.
While Newbury st and the Copley and prudential malls are very close geographically, they represent very different shopping experiences. Copley malls and the prudential center represent a standard mall experience. The physical design involves lots of glass, in the storefronts and plethora of Windows and marbled and tiled floors. Unlike some typical shopping experiences however, these malls house upscale stores almost exclusively, all of which seemed relatively empty on a warm Saturday. All activities at the malls revolved around shopping, everyone there seemed to have a purpose, headed toward one-store or carrying bags towards the exit. This sense seemed to be elevated by the fact that there was no major food court, only sit down restaurants. There was a visible security presence at the malls, more so at the higher end stores, which had security at the door. Newbury st on the other hand offered visitors a plethora of experiences. It's clear from the signage that the street has multiple uses; the sidewalk is covered in a frame signs and other larger advertisements showing off different stores on each block. There are hardware stores, salons, eateries, clothing stores, and many more just on the few blocks between Fairfield and Dartmouth. It's also obvious that there is a greater mix of people on Newbury st, people who have come to shop but also people who have simply come to enjoy being outdoors. There are more children and pets here as well. There are also homeless people on the street, asking for spare change, which was obviously not a feature in the mall, but their presence is minimal here compared to other parts of Boston. Retail shop owners use so age and window displays to entice customers, and to replicate a mall experience. But Newbury st will never truly be like a mall, it will always be more like an open marketplace for more then just shopping.
For my first drawing of the Copley Mall area, I was interested in the boundaries of public and retail space. The main feature that has stood out to me from my trip to that area has been the bridges connecting different buildings. I thought it was interesting that they were see-through, as I usually think of malls as self-contained areas. From the bridges, I felt that I could view and feel connected to public pace (the sidewalk, trees, other buildings in the distance) while still having my movement limited by the prescribed path of the mall. In my drawing, I attempted to draw this connection from bridge to street. My drawing of Newbury Street deals with the compartmentalization and varied uses of public space. During my trip there. I was very intrigued by the contrast of the public alleyways to the main retail area of Newbury Street. Because they were so close together, I could almost see the flow of money and labor from one to the other, the rich, glitzy shops, and in the back, the trash cans, dumpsters, and kitchen smells that complemented them. From the roof of a fancy restaurant, I could see both graffiti, and luxury clothing in the same view. Drawing both of these scenes have led me to think about the blurry lines of private and public space. One that is private property actually may be more accessible than one that is public.
Visiting Copley Place/Prudential Center and Newbury street consecutively, one is struck by differential effects resulting from the use of outdoor/indoor elements in each: Copley Place/Prudential Center makes use of immense natural light, shining in from skylights as well as glass structures throughout the buildings. This outdoor “ruggedness” contrasts with the regal accents salient throughout the mall (crimson, gold colors) – which would theoretically create a luxurious experience that is separate from the stark concrete of Boston, and encompass “the best of both (outdoor and indoor) worlds”. However, the bustling, commercial atmosphere, with flashy stores lining every corridor, offsets any soothing effect of the natural light. And one has the sense that people have a fixed, practical intent in visiting the mall, walking purposefully to their intended destination. The entrances and exits from the mall are typically revolving doors – as if intended to transport visitors from an unadorned, pale domain to a lively realm of indulgence. Newbury Street, on the other hand, adopts elements of the pleasing uniformity of an indoor mall – or perhaps of Disneyland - in its homogenously brick red buildings, wide sidewalks, and signature cleanliness. Although when first entering the street one can immediately sense the lively distinction from the rest of the city (simulating, in a way, the divisive effect of a shopping mall), storefronts blend in more seamlessly here, preventing the chaotic effect at Copley Place/Prudential Center and promoting a leisurely, slow- paced, almost park-like atmosphere. The variety in the building adornments and shapes serves to offset the artificiality of such a setting, but the occasional “sandwich board” dotting the sidewalk provides a break in such ideality – reminding us of the inherently commercial nature of this street.