Esoteric Survey

Jane Jacobs (1916-2006) would have been 100 today. The candy factory secretary and mother, turned journalist and activist didn't have a college degree or any formal training in urban planning--although she continues to be a major influence on the urban planning field. Her 1961 book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, was an attack on modernist planning principles in favor of an appreciation for organic urban vibrancy. Photo: Philosophers' Mail
Robert Moses was a leading planner in New York City. His plans for "urban renewal" included leveling much of Greenwich Village to make way for high rises and a ten lane highway that would have run right through Washington Square Park. Jacobs lived in Greenwich village and her children played in Washington Square park. She led a grassroots effort to stop the plan from moving forward. 
The 1950s plan Jacobs was fighting against.
Source: Ephemeral New York
"There is nobody against this - NOBODY, NOBODY, NOBODY but a bun…

Northland Shopping Center (1954) by Victor Gruen
Located in Southfield, MI, a Detroit suburb, Northland was the largest shopping center in the country. Alvin Lustig collaborated with Gruen on the identity and signage. Source: Laboratoire Urbanisme Insurrectionnel


It was a big deal. Life magazine even did a big spread on the opening of the center. 

Source: LIFE, 1954


Source: LIFE, 1954


Giraffe family by Malcolm Moran




Source: Laboratoire Urbanisme Insurrectionnel

Alvin Lustig designed the logo and some environmental signage for Gruen.
Image: Born Modern: The Life and Design of Alvin Lustig
Lustig parking lot sign
Image: Born Modern: The Life and Design of Alvin Lustig
Source: Life Magazine, 1954
1956 photo of the Lustig-designed water tower located at the edge of the shopping center.
Photo: Mike Grobbel
Totem by Gwen Lux

Happy 50 year anniversary to the Fulton Mall....on Wednesday, despite impassioned testimony by dozens of citizens to the contrary, the City of Fresno Planning Commission voted 6-0 to rip the heart and soul out of Downtown Fresno. The commission advised the City Council to accept an environmental impact report and recommended turning the historic Fulton Mall back into a street, versus the current open space/pedestrian mall designation. At the meeting, City staff was asked why the mall could not be restored. The response was that there are only grants to hand the mall back to cars, not for restoration  This lie is a testament  to the kind of sham process the City of Fresno is running. The City has received a $16 million TIGER grant from the Federal Department of Transportation to add cars back into the mall.  That grant could have easily been written to support pedestrian improvements to the mall. There are a number of pedestrian oriented grants that were approved in the same grant cycl…

Before: Fulton Street
After: Fulton Mall, 1965 Some people in Fresno would like to go back to the before picture. More about that, here.
Guarantee Fountain by Stan Bitters
Waterless fountain today 
Jan de Swart Clock Tower


Claire Falkenstein fountain
Claire Falkenstein fountain today- gone. More about that, here.
Stan Bitters fountain in 1965

The Fulton Mall is still very much in danger.  There is a group of people in Fresno who would rather have the city invest resources  into ripping the pedestrian mall and art out, over investing in proper maintenance and restoration of this important landmark. 
Keep up with the preservation efforts at Save the Fulton Mall
Related posts here, here, here and here
All black and white photos are from Arts & Architecture