DESIGN THROUGH RESEARCH

GENERAL OVERVIEW OF MEANING OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE,ARCHITECTS AND PARTICULAR TRENDS IN COMERCIAL BUILDINGS

BY BEZAWIT WORKU INST:DR ANTHRI, SEMERE,ALULA

DATE 4-27-12

Table of Contents 1.Contemporary architecture..3 2.Modern architects.4 3.Contemporary architects...5 4.Contemporary architectural influences.6 5.Basic history and trends in commercial building..7 6.Types of shopping centers........8 7.Development and financing..9 8.The team..10 9.Economic survey of market analysis..11 10.The integration with the community.....12
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11.Parking and traffic....14 12.Evolution of shopping malls.15 Reference,.20

1.Contemporary architecture
Contemporary architecture is formally defined as the building style of the present day. Today's styles, however, are quite varied and have a number of different influences. Examples of contemporary architecture therefore do not necessarily have similar or easily recognizable features as in classical architecture. A precise definition of "contemporary" architecture, therefore, is not so simple to articulate. It is generally recognized that contemporary architecture is an evolution of modern architecture. While these two terms are sometimes used synonymously, this usage is not correct. Modern architecture refers to the building style of the early to mid-20th century. It featured clean lines and an emphasis on function. Those elements that characterized modern architecture, however were also sometimes thought to be cold and impersonal. This belief lead to the creation of the contemporary style as is recognized today. Like the modern style, contemporary architecture connects indoor and outdoor spaces, but it adds some personal touches and warmth throughout the living space. The use of
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natural light also plays a big part in defining this style. For this reason, large and expansive windows are a common and easily recognized feature of contemporary homes. Green building is also becoming a strong component of the contemporary style. Architects today are placing more emphasis on energy efficiency; they also are using sustainable, natural, and recycled materials, thus creating eco-friendly houses. Contemporary homes are also often thoughtfully integrated into their natural surroundings. This practice is sometimes referred to as organic architecture. This connection with nature extends from the outdoor landscape to the indoor environment. Outside, local plants may be used to decorate, or the house may be designed around a prominent natural feature. Living roofs, in which plants are used as roofing materials to increase energy efficiency, are also becoming popular. Inside, natural materials like bamboo flooring and granite countertops are common. Features of a contemporary home thus may include, an irregular or unusually shaped frame, an open floor plan, oversized windows, the use of "green" components, a lack of ornamental details, or organic design. Prominent contemporary architects include Frank Gerry, who designed the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao; John Andrews, who designed the CN Tower in Montreal; and Jean Nouvel, who designed the Quai Branly Museum in Paris. Over time, contemporary architecture has developed several offshoots, each with its own characteristics, including postmodernism, neo modernism, and deconstructivism, among others. Postmodern and neo modern architecture returned to the use of ornaments on the facade of building. Deconstructivism developed from postmodernism and is characterized by ideas of fragmentation. The phrases contemporary architects and contemporary architecture have obvious meanings but like modern architects and modern architecture the terminology is open to interpretation - shades of meaning.

2.Modern Architects
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Modern Architecture became linked to a certain genre of building and thus over time wasn't really 'modern' anymore. Contemporary Architecture currently has less baggage, it is not affected by fall-out from the reign of a certain style. Modern Architecture - the 'International Style' - was associated with some great architects and some powerful countries and companies. It became the equivalent of the Classical Style in the Georgian period, i.e. the establishment architecture, the status quo. Some key Modern Architects include Le Corbusier, Mies Van der Rohe, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Since the seventies architecture styles have become more fractured and we have amongst what could be termed contemporary architects - post-modernists, neomodernists, deconstructivists, contextualists, expressionists and so on.'

Contemporary Architects' suggests a position that is anti-vernacular, comfortable with new materials and non-local materials & forms, using architectural language that is contemporary, ie not generally steeped in past typographies or traditions.

3.Contemporary Architects - Definition Summary

Thus in a quiet way the phrase Contemporary Architects' has a theoretical position comparable - but not similar - to 'Modern Architects' 'conservationist', 'traditionalist', 'classicist' or 'vernacular' architects would feel their views and style are valid in the 21st century but generally would not wish to be called 'contemporary architects'; for logical reasons there will be exceptions.

Contemporary Architecture is not simply anti-vernacular but also architecture that can have a number of influences but still tries to be inspirational, visionary, risky and uses new materials in an innovative way. Contemporary Architects attempt to push at the boundaries of materials and technology, and, especially in recent decades, geometry. Modern Architecture refers only to the architecture of the Modern Movement where form follows function and the house is a machine for living in. But Modernism was such a significant movement, (and such a change in thinking at that time) and influenced
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all architects since, that it is not simply an architectural style like Arts and Crafts or High-Tec.

Almost every contemporary architect has been influenced by the Modern Movement. Le Corbusier was for many the principal influence with his modern architecture of white walls, fenetre longuer, pilotis and architectural promenade. He described not only a vision of future cities with masterplanning sketches and models, but a form of programme and narrative for all buildings, but especially modern houses. He had a series of wealthy Clients and was successful in pushing boundaries in almost every building he worked on.

4.Contemporary architectural trends influences

4.1.Commercial considerations All design professions recognize that their influence is contingent on the self-interested forces of politics and business and the motivation of individuals to adopt appropriate changes in attitudes.

4.2.Ecological and environmental influences

Many architects, construction and building engineers are ill-equipped by their training to deal with the emergent issues of global warming, acid rain and other ecological and environmental influences.
4.3.Exploiting new technology

Apart from the very few who view changing technology and anything new and innovative with disdain and skepticism, architects, particularly the young, seem to have a natural urge to explore new ideas and strive to incorporate new ways of thinking.
4.4.The expression of form

In recent years the Modern Movement has grasped the changes in technology and design possibilities and has vastly increased the examples of expression by the evolution of new approaches to structural engineering. 4.5.The fascination with light Architecture has been greatly influenced by the notion of transparency, with numerous architects pursuing trends towards experimentation with light. This leads to the premise that our values are not necessarily market driven and that architecture can still be an emotive force.

5.BASIC HISTORY AND TRENDS IN COMERCIAL BUILDINGS

A shopping center is a complex of retail stores and related facilities planned as a unified group to give maximum shopping convenience to the customer and maximum exposure to the merchandise . The concept is not new. The agora of the typical city of ancient Greece was essentially a shopping center in the heart of the business district . The Emperor Trajan's architect, the Greek slave Apollodorus, built a shopping center adjacent to the Roman Forum in A.D . 110 . It had a two-level enclosed and ventilated mall lined with open-fronted shops startlingly similar to today's most up to- date concept. The typical Arabian souk, or market, of the Middle Ages also had narrow, weather-protected malls lined with open fronted shops . The past two decades, however, have seen such a tremendous development in planned shopping facilities in the United States that today's center has, in fact, become a new building type . First, population growth led to outward expansion of the cities and the building up of the vast residential suburbs . Downtown congestion, due to increased car ownership and inadequate streets, weakened the downtown merchants and prompted
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them to set up branches in the suburban periphery in order to be more convenient to their customers . As a result of these activities on a large scale, a whole new industry was born . Each suburban district soon had its own major shopping center and several minor ones . Such districts each had clearly defined trade areas . Another major change then set in : Vastly improved, high-speed circumferential highways soon tended to put all these suburban centers in competition with each other . At the same time, the decline of retail business and decay of buildings in the central business districts began forcing, in selfdefense, a revitalization of downtown . As a result of these two new factors, the shopping center industry is today pointing in two new, significant directions . First, the suburban centers are becoming mega centers, complete with several department stores, office buildings, motels, amusements, and, of course, parking facilities . Second, the central business districts are making a determined stand to counteract the ever-growing suburban competition by embarking on programs for construction of new high-speed connector routes to downtown and construction of major downtown renewal projects, also complete with stores, offices, hotels, amusements, and parking facilities, usually in decked garages due to the high downtown land cost .

6.TYPES OF CENTERS

Neighborhood Center (Suburban) This is a row of stores customarily (but not always) in a strip, or line, paralleling the highway and with parking between the line of storefronts and the highway . Service is by alley in the rear . Ranging from 20,000 to 100,000 sq ft of space, these projects usually contain a supermarket and a drugstore, often a variety store, and a half-dozen or more service-type stores . They cater to a very limited trade area and are not normally competitive with the major centers . A few of the newer of these centers have their retail units clustered around an enclosed "mini-mall ." Intermediate or Community-Size Center This also is usually a strip of stores but substantially larger than the neighborhood center and usually containing a so-called "junior" department store as the major unit . This type is vulnerable to competition from the larger centers and hence has declined in desirability . The parking pattern is normally
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similar to that of the neighborhood center . Regional Center (Suburban) This contains one to four department stores plus 50 to 100 or more satellite shops and facilities, all fronting on an internal pedestrian mall, or shopping walkway . Parking completely surrounds the building group so that all stores face inward to the mall with their "backs" to the parking . With today's rising land costs and diminishing supply of suitable large tracts, there has been a growing trend toward double-decked parking to save land area . It is simply a matter of the relation between the land cost and the cost of the parking deck. There is also a strong trend toward double decking of the stores themselves so that the central pedestrian mall has two interconnecting levels, each lined with shops . The double level mall is also due, in part, to the need to keep horizontal walking (shopping) distances within reason . As land costs continue to rise and projects to grow larger, three- and four level malls will, no doubt, become common . Renewal Projects (Downtown) Because of their complexity in matters legal and political---as well as physicaldowntown centers are still, to some extent, in tire experimental stage . The trend is toward a close integration, on two or more shopping levels, of department stores, shops of all sorts . restaurants, etc . The multilevel malls may connect directly or by bridges to other shopping facilities, hotels, office buildings, theaters, and parking garages . Because of high land costs, all parking is normally multi decked and can be above, below, or, better, laterally contiguous to the shopping facilities . The downtown trend is toward a multilevel pattern interconnecting the essential parts of the central business district .

7.DEVELOPMENT AND FINANCING Shopping centers are customarily promoted and owned by developers whose primary motive is a return on their investment and, to a lesser extent, by department stores or Commercial other merchants who are looking for new outlets to increase their sales volume . With the advent of rapid inflation, there is also a strong trend toward participation in ownership by the institutions, such as insurance companies, who ill the past confined their activity merely to lending money to the developer or merchant . Customarily the developer, regardless of what individual or group he represents, can, with good judgment and skill, set up the project on the basis of, let us say, a 10 percent investment of his own money and the remaining 90 percent as a long-term loan from an
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insurance company or other institution . As the long-term loan usually does not become available until completion of the project, the developer borrows needed interim money, or short-term financing, usually from a bank . The dollar value of the long-term loan is primarily calculated as a multiple of the anticipated rent roll ; that is to say, it is based on a certain number of times tire total projected annual rent collectible from all the committed tenants who have acceptable credit ratings . As the loan is based primarily oil the rents and, therefore, is not affected by overruns in the construction cost of tire job, it is obvious that the construction budget becomes of utmost importance . With only, say, 10 percent of the total job cost as his investment and 90 percent borrowed, an overrun of 10 percent will, in actuality, double the amount of money that the developer must invest . Otherwise, he will have to sell out, go bankrupt, or cut every possible cost he can, even if it damages the popularity of the project . The vital importance, as a result of this pattern, of a realistic and inviolable budget should be clear .

8.THE TEAM

At the earliest possible stage in the concept of the project, preferably even before acquisition of the land, a developer, i .e ., owner, should assemble his professional team . For a small neighborhood center, such a team might consist solely of the owner and the architect, especially if the owner is experienced in this type of leasing . For today's regional centers and downtown renewal programs, however . the essential team involves, in addition to the developer (who may be an individual or a large development corporation), the architect : the market analyst ; the leasing agent ; the mortgage broker ; the engineers (usually retained by the architect and including mechanical, structural, and site) ; the attorney ; the public relations advisor ; and other occasionally needed specialists . The larger and more complex the proposed project, the more necessary it is that each of these members of the team be experienced not only in his own profession but also in the specific field of shopping center development . It is desirable, in fact, that they participate, as part of the team, in major decision making .

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9.THE ECONOMIC SURVEY OR MARKET ANALYSIS

Prior to any planning activity and often prior to acquisition of the land, the market analyst makes a complete survey of the anticipated trade area surrounding the proposed site for the center . The boundaries of the trade area customarily depend on acceptable automobile driving time to the center . Frequently the trade area is broken into a primary area, where a high percentage of the inhabitants would shop at the center, and one or more secondary areas where, due to competition or to driving times or other reasons, a smaller percentage would be anticipated . The analyst assembles data on existing population, future population trends, income levels, car ownership, existing shopping facilities and their probable future competitive effect, and also projected facilities already announced or likely to be announced by other developers . He estimates the probable mortality rate of these proposed projects-i .e ., how many will never be built--and the competitive effect of any survivors . The analyst, from his available statistical records, and based on the income level, population, ethnic origins, and other characteristics of the trade area, then makes estimates of the amount of family income likely to be allocated to such categories as food, drugs, furniture, women's and men's clothes, shoes, department store purchases, etc ., etc . ; and, from these estimates, he prepares charts indicating the recommended total amount of floor area to be built and how much of this floor area should be devoted to the various kinds of merchandise and services . These data then form the basis for the architectural planning . No major project should be undertaken without an adequate market analysis . It is axiomatic that success goes to the developer who "gets there the fustest with the mostest," as tire old saying goes . If the project is too slow in coming to fruition, a competitive center, securing a firm hold on the available business . may be built . If a project is too large for the trade area, it cannot be sufficiently rented, and the unrented space may cause it to fail . If it is too small for the trade area, it will invite the construction of competitive centers and may lose out due to this competition . In the past this determination of size, i .e ., total store area, was perhaps the most vital decision to be made and one that could be readily pinpointed from a thorough market survey by a firm
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of sound judgment . Today, however, with the vast increase in circumferential highways, it has been conclusively established that trade area boundaries no longer can be pinpointed . A surprising number of shoppers now take advantage of centers on the opposite side of a city because of the new high-speed peripheral highways . Today every aspect of a center's concept, planning, and design must be of the best for survival in the face of competition . A school can be un functional, but the children still have to go to school . A home may have marry bad features, but the family will still live there . Even a factory building can have its faults . A shopping center, however, depends on the whims of its customers, mostly female, for its success . If, because of inconvenience or unsuitable merchandise or for any other reason, it does not have the proper appeal, the customers simply will not go there to shop, and the project may become a failure .

10.INTEGRATION WITH THE COMMUNITY

For many years the typical shopping center has been a low, flat building mass resembling an island surrounded by a vast, barren ocean of asphalt . Landscaping has been

inadequate, and integration of any sort with the community has been completely lacking . With the competitive need, however, for increasing the size of centers and including within their general scope office buildings, hotels, housing, etc ., the resulting more complex planning requirements have given rise to a better opportunity, as well as to greater urgency, for the true integration of the stores and parking within a larger major complex, such complex in turn properly integrated with the existing neighborhood . The importance of this integration has been emphasized in the concepts of the "new towns" arising in Europe and elsewhere . Plan integration with the neighborhood has, in fact, become a must for large centers and a factor not to be ignored even for the smallest ones . Such integration involves the space interrelationship between the neighborhood and project's buildings, roadways, parking, landscaping, and pedestrian walks . It can be a powerful means of assuring long-range future reel estate values, both for the shopping
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project and for the entire surrounding community, whether commercial or residential .Where land costs permit, it is obviously desirable to obtain control of the lend surrounding the center, not only to protect the center but to take advantage of the inevitable increase in value and development potential of such land .

11.PARKING AND TRAFFIC

The need for parking was one of the primary factors leading to the development of the shopping center concept . Provision of adequate and convenient parking is, in fact, a basic requirement of any shopping center, regardless of its size or location . In suburban areas where almost all the trade comes by automobile, a ratio of between 5 and 6 car spaces per 1,000 sq ft of leasable store area is mandatory . In the central business district, where mass transportation and walk-in trade can be counted on for a substantial part of the clientele, the ratio can go down to as low as 2 .5 to 3 cars per 1,000 sq ft . In strip centers, customer parking is generally between the roadway and the line of storefronts. In regional suburban centers, the parking normally is on grade and completely surrounding the. shopping complex . Where land costs approach the cost of parking decks, it is becoming more frequent to deck at least a portion of the site area, often where topography aids the situation . In central-business-district projects, because of very high land cost, the parking usually ties to be multi decked and is preferably contiguous, connecting directly with different levels of the center . It can also, for further economy of land use, be above the retail floors on decks as roof parking ; or, more customarily, it can be below the retail levels in basement or partial basement locations . Though basement parking is the least desirable from the viewpoint of the shopper's normal psychology and is also least desirable from the construction cost point of view, it is a relatively common arrangement due to inadequate land area and to the legal aspects of the federal urban renewal programs . In such programs, in order to conserve land area and cost, the developer frequently can build the complex on air rights over multi decked garage facilities built by one or another government agency . It has been stated by authorities on the subject, however, that for customer acceptance it is better to have parking above grade, even up to six or eight levels, than to have it more than one or two levels below
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grade . In the matter of parking layout, car stalls can be set at angles (say, 70'j to the lanes, which then requires one-way traffic ; or stalls can be at 90' to the lanes, permitting two-way traffic . The former is easier for the actual positioning of the car in the stall but more complicated and inflexible for the customer, due to the one-way pattern . Although both are commonly used, the 90 arrangement is somewhat more frequent for grade parking whereas the angled system is more customary for garages and decks . Parking lanes, including the stalls on each side, range from 60 to 64 ft in width for 90 parking and from 56 to 58 ft for angled parking . In any decked parking layout, it is important that deck widths be multiples of these standard dimensions . Otherwise, wasted deck area substantially increases the cost per car of the parking without any offsetting advantages . In the case of multi-use central-business-district structures, the proper Column spacing, requirements of parking, merchandising, offices, and hotel use vary considerably, and the planning becomes very involved . Practical decisions must be made as to which facility governs, and in no case must the "tail be allowed to wag the dog ." In the typical shopping center, parking is provided by the developer . In the case of centralbusiness-district renewal projects, however, parking may be provided by a parking authority, renewal agency, or others . It may or may not be leased to the developer, or it may be built by the developer and leased to a parking authority or others . In the case of double-level malls in the suburbs, topography can be an aid rather than a hindrance through provision of on-grade parking at two different levels--one parking area at the level of the upper mall, the other at the lower, thus equalizing the parking access and convenience for each level of the mall . There are a number of ramp systems for decked parking and various patterns of parking lanes or bays for both ramped and grade parking. In the case of grade parking, lanes or bays should generally be at right angles to the building facades to enable shoppers to walk directly to the building complex without threading through parked cars, as with lanes parallel to the facades

12.Evolution of shopping malls: Lessons from the pioneering Malls in India

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As human civilization evolved from an agrarian, rural system to the urban setting, context of shopping underwent a sea change. Concept of shopping centre emerged out of peoples need to carry out shopping in a more planned and convenient manner. Shopping centers became an integral part of the urban landscape in the twentieth century Europe and the USA. Countries like India remained insulated from these developments till a decade ago primarily because structural foundations of its economy and society did not find it conducive. However after economic liberalization ushered in, major changes swept the Indian economy, society and marketplace. People started aspiring for brands. Most of the big brands required retail space matching the brand attributes. It is in this context that shopping malls caught peoples imagination and fascination. Growth of shopping centers in India can be divided into many phases. The first phase spanned from 1991 to the year 1998. During this phase, India saw development of only three shopping malls: Spencer Plaza, Channai; Crossroads, Mumbai and Ansal Plaza, New Delhi. It can be equated with the Introduction phase. However, this phase did not graduate automatically into Growth phase, as it happens in case of Product Life Cycle. Introduction was followed by an Assimilation Phase characterized by slow but steady diffusion of this concept in the market. New projects did come up but at a conservative pace. But this phase served a very useful purpose: it familiarized the Indian market: developers as well as customers with the positives of shopping malls. Post 2003 came the Growth phase. The concept got so well accepted that it created an over-enthusiasm, not necessarily based on facts and logics. Consequently growth phase seems to have fizzled out by the year 2008 itself giving way to decline. Grimness was further accentuated by the global economic recession post September 2008 that emanated primarily real-estate sector only. However there is an alternate way of looking at it. Many experts believe the current phase to be a part of growth only, with market corrections coming into play after a fierce bull run in the shopping centre industry.

12.1.The three pioneering Malls:

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When the first phase of Spencer Plaza, Chennai came up in the year 1991, India was not familiar with big brands and modern format retailing. When viewed from outside, its plain sandstone exteriors give a dull look. It is a seven-storey high structure with a mix of retail, office-space and entertainment. Stores inside Phase - I of Spencer Plaza are smaller in size, corridors are congested, and there is complete absence of zoning. As the center moved towards Phase II and III in the year 1999 stores became larger, corridors got wider and placement of stores seemed to follow some logic. Crossroads, Mumbai was developed in the year 1998 by rejuvenating old office buildings of a pharmaceutical company into a modern shopping mall. Being at a premium location in the financial capital of India, it could attract brands and crowds but the concept was not perfect. Ownership of the mall changed a number of times during last 12 years. Presently it is with Future Group which is Indias largest retail company. They have converted Crossroads into a seamless mall named SOBO Central. It is depressing to see a shopping mall developed and managed by professional companies struggling to survive whereas an unorganized shopping complex Heera Panna situated adjacent to the mall managed to remain relevant and flourished over the same time-period. Ansal Plaza, New Delhi was inaugurated in the year 1998 as a joint venture between an Indian real estate developer (Ansal Group) and a government corporation (HUDCO). Being a new construction, it was well spread horizontally, has unique architecture and accommodated prominent brands of that time. However the mall is losing its sheen with time. Serious competition has come-up in the form the new malls in the city of Delhi and Ansal Plaza needs serious rethinking on many aspects of its operations. 12.2.Lessons learnt: The three malls developed during introduction phase are landmarks in themselves. But glaring deficiencies are observed in the concept, management and operations when these are compared with the upcoming malls in India. These malls did not foresee the changes that the society and economy was expected to go and based their projects on the basis of contemporary trends and statistics. Some of the problems evident in these malls are:

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12.3. Location, location, location: It is often said that location holds the key to success in retail. Developers need to be very careful in choosing and selecting appropriate location for their projects. They have to make a choice between the most tempting heart of the city locations or somewhat distant and peripheral locations in the suburbs. These three malls are situated in the downtown. It is generally said that it makes sense in the Indian context as penetration of personal vehicles is not very decent, comfortable options of public transportations are practically non-existent and infrastructure in terms of road-condition is pathetic. These cities (Chennai, Mumbai & Delhi) did not have a high vehicular density and traffic bottlenecks at that time. But as time progressed, civic as well as vehicular population went up steadily. In fact India is one of the fast emerging markets of consumer vehicles. This exerted pressure on the existing roads but being in the heart of the city, there was limited scope for local authorities to widen the roads. Seriousness of this issue can be judged from the fact that Spencer Plaza, Chennai has a pre-approved plan for the fourth phase from local authorities but the traffic authorities are unwilling to give an No Objection Certificate (NOC) as the vehicular traffic on Mount Road (the normal exit route for vehicles coming out of the mall) has gone up many folds and it cannot accommodate anymore of it. A useful lesson from this instance is: do not fall into the temptation of attracting more people in the downtown as traffic bottlenecks at such location can make the shopping experience nightmarish. Taking a cue from this, most of the new and bright projects are coming up in the suburbs in the metropolitan cities. 12.4. Make a large one for me: Today a shopper wants holistic experience in the malls. The tendency of shopper to try and satiate all needs during visit to a single mall induces developers to come up with malls large enough to accommodate a multitude of product categories. Except for Spencer plaza, the other two have retail space in the range of 250,000-350,000 square feet which is grossly inadequate in the present context. A decade back India did not have

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many takers for small space as there was no pull from consumers. Hence developers decided in favor of smaller projects. But they failed to see the big picture. Indian consumer space has undergone a sea-change in last one decade. A number of brands, product categories and segments have emerged rapidly. But because of space constraint, it is difficult for these small malls to accommodate them. The update on this front is: India has seen a distinct trend towards emergence of larger malls. Six operational malls with a million square feet plus space are already there while a couple of dozen are in the offering.

12.5. Design it with an eye on future: Apart from being relevant for today, design and architecture of a mall should be focused on future needs and developments. If the core design cannot be made futuristic, it can be kept flexible at least so that it accommodates changes as and when required in the years to come. Developers in all the three cases failed to place the globally set benchmarks of architecture and design before them while planning and designing. In case of Spencer Plaza, the exteriors are not attractive and give the look of office space. In case of CrossRoads parking became a big issue as the existing buildings did not leave much scope for a large, basement parking. The mall had to opt for roof-top parking but it had its own limitations. Ansal plaza failed to keep its design flexible enough to accommodate new formats that gained popularity later on (e.g. Hypermarkets & Multiplexes).

12.6. Keep your tenant-mix young and relevant: Malls are not designed for a few years; they have long gestation periods. The mall can recover investments and makes profit only if it remains relevant in the eyes of shoppers for a longer period of time. As time progresses, Indian consumers showed distinct preference for newer retail formats. If we examine the tenant-mix of these malls, we see

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that none of these has a Multiplex which is a must for contemporary shopping malls as entertainment is emerging as a strong shopping motive among Indian consumers. Moreover, a multiplex is a wonderful way to use the vertical space permitted by local authorities in the form of a higher Floor Area Ratio (FAR). A reason could be that till late 90s, multiplex as a concept did not exist in India. But going back to the previous point, developers did not foresee this and did not opt for a flexible design. Same is the case with space requirements for accommodating Hypermarkets and Food-courts.

12.7. Ineffective and unprofessional mall management: Mall is unlike other retail properties wherein ownership and control is passed on along with possession of retail space. This truth did not dawn upon the earlier developers. Consequently we have a retailers association handling management of Spencer Plaza, Chennai. The other two malls do have mall management entities but none is professional and experienced enough (things have changed somewhat for Crossroads after it became SOBO Central). Moreover, suitable infrastructure was not available in Crossroads for conducting promotional activities whereas it had to be done in the open amphitheatre in Ansal plaza that is insulated from the core shopping area. The problem may be attributed partly to the fact that India doesnt have the necessary talent pool but things are changing with time. Professional management and promotion of shopping malls is a must for long-term sustenance and growth of a mall.

12.8.The road ahead: Till now, the Indian retail real estate market has seen different phases of growth; from the onset to some of exemplary centers namely Select City Walk (New Delhi), In orbit Mall (Mumbai), etc. Considering the Indian retail has high potential and a long way to

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go; the current phase demands improvisation through internal learnings and exposure to global standards.

REFERENCE
TIME SAVER BUILDING TYPESARCHITECTURAL CODES AND STANDARDS WWW.WEKIPEDIA.COM.................................................................THE INTERNET

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