Rancho Cucamonga, California
The feeling is supposed to create the sense of a small town Main Street, and in this respect, the designers have succeeded. There is an unmistakably Disney theme park feel complete with piped in music and historically themed detailing and architecture, but the developers insist that they have not created a theme park.
The point is well taken, we understand that above the stores are leaseable office space and housing components are planned for the periphery of the property. In addition, there are some elements of “grit” on display, the infrastructure and services are not necessarily hidden away.
North Main Street
Urban space in suburbia
Mauling the Mall
Variations of scale
However, we would argue that Victoria Gardens is a physical manifestation of the kind of “reality” displayed in reality television shows. The designers have created a carefully scripted and edited version of “reality” that is very much manipulated and controlled. While the concept behind the mall is in many ways innovative and groundbreaking, it has been veneered with a saccharine layer of history to create the illusion of a place which never existed.
That is not to say that we necessarily dislike Victoria Gardens, we actually feel that it is successful on a number of levels. While we could wish for even more innovation, we are rather encouraged by the fact that developers seem more willing to take risks beyond the tried and true forms of retail development, even though relying on the crutch of historicism.
The central "Town Square"
Applied history
Historical markers recount local lore
TO BE CONTINUED
In Part II we will review more of the specifics of the architecture and space, and delve a bit further into this idea of private development masquerading as public space.