Shopping Mall

There is a new shopping mall in the town. It has aimed for novelty, or perhaps tried to limit its impact on its surroundings, or perhaps cut corners in building expenses, by having no walls. The result is that I. was confused as to whether he was inside or outside, as indeed was I. Hardly a confusion of any value, but better than none at all. It also has the result of it being cold, even in late spring, whenever you are not in an actual shop, with walls, which I guess is the point. I can't imagine anyone wanting to sit at one of the forecourt cafes in winter. Nonetheless the lack of walls, the feeling of inside-outside, did spur a discussion over the collapse of boundaries, of it being an intersectional mall, albeit one with Sainsburys and H&M in it.

Typifying this is the outside-inside seating area. This looks temporary and will probably be deconstructed (like what I did there?) and turned into a purely inside shop. I have noticed a number of people using it so maybe this idea has legs (though whether in shorts or long pants I am not sure).

There is something Truman Show like about this door leading out of the woods. Might it lead actually outside? 

The trompe l'oeil clouds have been doing the rounds of malls since Venus Fort in Odaiba, Tokyo, and Las Vegas (below). Pretty tired nowadays.

 

Less ambivalent is this enormous mural, maybe the mascot or logo of the mall itself. Is that what the wall-lessness is attempting to signify? That this mall is all about originality, freedom, of not being hemmed in by walls? Stating the absolute obvious but hard to imagine a more normal looking individual of this day and age than the one represented.

At 8.30am only Sainsburys was open where we purchased cheddar and onion crisps and a jam donut. This was on display.

Made me reminisce about hanging with the chaps at the Para.