Architecture Lecture | History of the Mall
Alexandra Lange
AIA Houston / Design Council / Sally Walsh Lecture
Speaker: Alexandra Lange
September 21, 2023
Since their birth in the 1950s, malls have loomed large as temples of commerce, the agora of the suburbs. Yet today, amid the aftershocks of financial crises and a global pandemic, as well as the rise of online retail, the dystopian husk of an abandoned shopping center has become one of the era’s defining images.
Alexandra Lange reveals how the design of malls played an integral role in their cultural ascent. Her book Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall chronicles the rise, fall, and ongoing reinvention of the mall.
Plan Your Visit
Admission is free. The lecture takes place in Brown Auditorium Theater, with seating on a first-come, first-served basis. On Thursdays, the Museum is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. with free general admission.
About the Speaker
Alexandra Lange is a design critic. Her work has appeared in publications including Architect, the Atlantic, Harvard Design Magazine, Metropolis, New York magazine, and the New York Times. She is a columnist for Bloomberg CityLab and has been a writer at Design Observer, opinion columnist at Dezeen, and architecture critic for Curbed.
About the AIA Houston / Design Council / Sally Walsh Lecture
The annual AIA Houston (American Institute of Architects, Houston Chapter) Sally Walsh Lectures are dedicated to the memory of interior designer Sally Walsh, who brought modern design to Houston and inspired a generation. The Design Council is the MFAH patron group that supports the department of decorative arts, craft, and design.
This lecture is made possible by the American Institute of Architects, Houston and the Design Council at the MFAH.
All Learning and Interpretation programs at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, receive generous support from Macey and Harry Reasoner; the Claire and Theodore Morse Foundation; and the Texas Commission on the Arts. Endowment funds are provided by the Louise Jarrett Moran Bequest; Caroline Wiess Law; Windgate Foundation; the William Randolph Hearst Foundation; Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff; the National Endowment for the Humanities; the Fondren Foundation; BMC Software, Inc.; the Wallace Foundation; the Neal Myers and Ken Black Children’s Art Fund; Mr. and Mrs. A. L. Ballard; Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Tate; the Eleanor and Frank Freed Foundation; Virginia and Ira Jackson; the Favrot Fund; CFP Foundation; Neiman Marcus Youth Arts Education; gifts in memory of John Wynne; gifts in memory of Peter Lotz; and gifts in honor of Beth Schneider.
General admission to the MFAH is free on Thursdays, courtesy of Shell USA, Inc.