Dylan Wong

Dylan Wong

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.