Randhurst

At the time of its completion in 1962, Chicago's Randhurst Shopping Center was billed as the world's largest shopping center under one roof. Its brash and flamboyant architect, Victor Gruen, the man known as the "Father of the Shopping Mall," declared Randhurst different from any established building type in the world. Gruen turned commercial architecture into an art form, in turn making himself a household name. This is the narrative of the people who walked Randhurst's corridors,...
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At the time of its completion in 1962, Chicago's Randhurst Shopping Center was billed as the world's largest shopping center under one roof. Its brash and flamboyant architect, Victor Gruen, the man known as the "Father of the Shopping Mall," declared Randhurst different from any established building type in the world. Gruen turned commercial architecture into an art form, in turn making himself a household name. This is the narrative of the people who walked Randhurst's corridors, from Robert F. Kennedy to Mr. T; of stores and their stories; of the parties, pomp and personalities involved in the life, death and rebirth of an exceptional and atypical place. This is Randhurst.