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MN90: Frank Lloyd Wright Goes Shopping

Home > MN90: Minnesota History in 90 Seconds > MN90: Frank Lloyd Wright Goes Shopping

It had never been seen before, a fully-enclosed shopping mall that sprawled over 500 acres in the Minneapolis suburb of Edina. Britt Aamodt tells the story of Southdale, the mall that when it opened in 1956 became the model for a thousand imitators but left famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright feeling, “blah.”

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Editor: Britt AamodtProducer: Britt AamodtEditorial support: Emily KrumbergerMixing & mastering: Chris HarwoodImage: Frank Lloyd Wright visits Southdale Mall in 1956. [credit: Collection Minnesota Historical Society]

 

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Transcript

MN90 Intro: Welcome to MN90: Minnesota History in 90 Seconds.

October 29, 1954, the Dayton company broke ground on a new concept in shopping, the completely enclosed suburban shopping mall. They called their mall Southdale, and when it opened October 8, 1956, no one had ever seen anything like it. Encompassing 500 acres in the Minneapolis suburb of Edina, Southdale corralled everything under one roof. Department stores Dayton's and Donaldson's anchored the ends. Smaller shops lined the halls in between, and in the center there was the Garden Court of Perpetual Spring, with a cafe bathed in natural light from skylight, trees sprouting from the middle of circular benches, overhanging plants, and a bird cage. Famed architect Frank Floyd Wright made a visit shortly after the opening, and thought it was blah, but for the next three decades Southdale became the model for shopping malls, spawning a thousand imitators across the country.

MN90 Outro: MN90 is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, made possible by funding from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Online at mn90.org.