Victor Gruen

Northland Center, Southfield, Michigan, 1954

Victor David Gruen (July 18, 1903 – February 14, 1980), was an Austrian-born architect best known as a pioneer in the design of shopping malls in the United States. He is also noted for his urban revitalization proposals, described in his writings and applied in master plans such as for Fort Worth, Texas (1955), Kalamazoo, Michigan (1958) and Fresno, California (1965).

An advocate of prioritizing pedestrians over cars in urban cores, he was also the designer of the first outdoor pedestrian mall in the United States, the Kalamazoo Mall.

Kalamazoo Mall, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 1959
Park Lane Centre, Reno, Nevada, 1967

 

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