Modern Main Street: South Coast Plaza
Zoom Program, FREE
Wednesday, October 12, 2022
Join docomomo.us/Southern California Chapter and the Society
of Architectural Historians/Southern California Chapter for a look at the
grandest mall of them all: South Coast Plaza. Throughout October, docomomo.us
chapters will be exploring the modern legacy of mall design. This free Zoom
program will feature three experts: Alan Hess, author and advocate from
Preserve Orange County; Matthew Parrent, AICP, Principal Associate at Gruen
Associates; and Ashok Vanmali, AIA, Partner at Gruen Associates.
Attendees will learn how the Segerstrom family transformed
acres of lima bean fields in Costa Mesa into a new type of downtown through the
creation of the first indoor, air-conditioned mall, the development of a town
center master plan and the creation of a vibrant arts district that serve the
region. Learn how patriarch Henry Segerstrom became a patron to architects such
as Victor Gruen Associates, Welton Becket & Associates, Cesar Pelli, Frank
Gehry, Gin Wong and Robert Clements.
You will also learn about new and important names such as
designer Rudi Baumfeld, interior designer Gere Kavanaugh, and one of the first
African American graphic designers to work in a major architectural firm,
Marion Sampler.
South Coast plaza was not only innovative in Gruen’s planning
and philosophy of environmental
architecture, but innovative in its agile response to changing Orange
County demographics—transforming its store base from Woolworths and Thom McAnn
to brands usually found on Fifth Avenue, Bond Street, and the Champs-Elysees.
Hess, a well-known author of dozens of books on architecture
brings it all together into a compelling story that will have you longing for a
trip to the mall on a Saturday afternoon. Sign up here for the free Zoom program.
A self-guided tour of South Coast Plaza will also take place
on Sunday, October 23rd, at 8:30 AM. Tour tickets
available here.
Modern Main Street: South Coast
Plaza—Sunday, October 12th, 2022; 6 PM, PST. Zoom link will be sent upon
registration.
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