The North Park Center is famous for its 250 shops, cafes and restaurants, as well as a cinema. It is one of the top 20 largest malls in the United States, with sales of over $1 billion every year. It is called the first shopping mall that was mentioned in the fashion magazine "Vogue".
History of creation
In 2007, the North Park Center was recognized as one of the "7 wonders of retail in the modern world," but it had come a long way before that. In the 1960s, real estate developer and art collector Raymond Nasher leased a 390,000-square-meter cotton field on the outskirts of Dallas. Not everyone approved of the idea, but Nasher understood what he was doing, as if he had seen success in his new business from the very beginning.
He hired architect Hector Hamilton to create a shopping mall where visitors could look at works of art. The goal was fully achieved, and the North Park Center was awarded the award of the Institute of Architects of the USA in the nomination "Design of the Decade of the 60s". There were even more visitors, and soon the center was known in other countries.
Short description
The North Park Center was opened in 1965 under the auspices of the Titche-Goettinger and Neiman Marcus stores. Other stores included Kroger, Doubleday, Woolworth's, and others. Their number increased. The advantage was that the center attracted attention not only by the opportunity to buy everything you need in one complex, but also by the U-shaped design of the center. The 5,700 square meter landscaped garden is equipped as a park area for buyers.
The facility became more popular every year, and in 1973 the first large-scale expansion took place. A Lord & Taylor boutique was opened in the new wing. In 2006, the area of the center doubled, 88,000 square meters were added. This allowed the opening of specialty retail stores, an AMC cinema with 15 screens on the 3rd floor of the building.
Traditions of the center
At the initiative of Raymond Nasher, art exhibitions are held on the territory of the complex. This turns the shopping process into a real art, and visitors can explore items from the collection for free. The tradition continues to this day, since the beginning of the North Park Center, the works of Jonathan Borofsky, Andy Warhol, Jim Dean, and Frank Stella have been exhibited here.
There is a steel sculpture "Ad Astra" with a height of 15 meters and a weight of 12 tons, the work of master Marco di Suviero from New York. Other large-scale projects are the works of Claes Oldenburg and Koosier van Bruggen, about 6 and a half meters high, and Joel Shapiro's sculpture of 20 blocks of different sizes made of wood.
Another tradition has emerged, and the North Park Center has become the first mall to open a children's library. The administration of the complex considered it important that young visitors had the opportunity to freely read books and broaden their horizons, while their mothers, fathers and other relatives could make purchases. The center cooperates with various brands, including H&M, Macy's, Forever 21, Nordstrom and others. In this place you can buy clothes, shoes, accessories, household goods, electronics, care products, cosmetics, perfumes.
How to get
To go shopping, meet with family and friends at one of the restaurants of the North Park Center, watch a movie at the cinema or visit the children's library, you can take buses 020, 402 DART or by metro along the red and orange lines, the nearest station is Park Lane.
In addition, the center hosts social events, including film festivals. "The interior" of the landmark was used for filming films and TV shows, including "Dr. T and Women" and "True Stories."
Gallery
