Owen Borges

Owen Borges

I visited Newbury Street before I visited the malls and was immediately intrigued by its spatial feel. It feels very wide and light in comparison to most streets so I attempted to do a sketch that would capture that essence in some way. I decided that the best way to organize my sketch was by height, because I believe that this street’s width in combination with its relatively low height. I was also interested in the way that people move through this space, in a generally linear fashion down one side of the street, entering stores of interest.

Upon going to Copley Place mall, I realized that the large, two story corridor was constructed using many of the same principles. It provides for a large amount of open space between the stores and people move about the space in roughly the same way. That is, it is a sort of promenade that forces people to walk past all of the shops to get to the one they want to find. The Shopping spaces are both linear, seemingly designed to maximize the amount of interface a shopper has with the storefronts they are passing. The wide open spacing and large amount of natural lighting also make these shopping spaces much more enjoyable. The mall also has less seating options than Newbury Street, making it ultimately a very dynamic place. While one can either promenade or sit and enjoy the space on Newbury Street, they are almost forced into shopping by the very construction of the mall.